No provision in Forest Rights Act to obtain gram sabha consent for projects: Ministry, Pg10

Key Highlights:

• The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has stated that the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, and its rules, contain no provision for obtaining Gram Sabha consent for Stage-II forest clearance.
• This communication was made to the Union Ministry of Power regarding delays in government projects, such as those by National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), attributed to the requirement of 100% Gram Sabha consent.
• The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Undertakings reported that the average time for forest clearance for under-construction projects was 106 months, with 100% Gram Sabha consent being a critical bottleneck.
• The committee recommended a "qualified super-majority consent" of 70-75% of affected Gram Sabhas for large hydropower projects of national importance.

Detailed Insights:

• The MoTA clarified that matters related to Gram Sabha consent for forest clearance do not fall under its purview, despite being the nodal ministry for FRA implementation.
• Existing guidelines under the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980, and its subsequent rules, mandate the completion of all FRA processes, including obtaining a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from Gram Sabhas, before formal forest diversion.
• This requirement for NOC from Gram Sabhas has commonly been understood as "gram sabha consent" for forest clearance.
• Projects like the Teesta-IV Hydroelectric Project (HEP) have been indefinitely stalled due to pending consent from a minority of Gram Panchayats.
• The FRA explicitly designates the Gram Sabha as the authority to initiate the process for determining and recognizing individual and community forest rights.
• The conflict arises from the MoTA's interpretation of the FRA versus the practical implementation guidelines under the FCA that link FRA compliance to forest clearance.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006: A landmark legislation recognizing the rights of forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers over forest land and resources.
• Gram Sabha: The village assembly comprising all adult members of a village, empowered under the FRA to initiate and decide on claims to forest land and resources.
• Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980: A central act that restricts the diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes without prior approval from the Central Government.
• Stage-II Forest Clearance: The final approval stage in the forest clearance process, granted after all conditions stipulated in the initial (Stage-I) approval, including FRA compliance, are met.