Why is MoTA distancing itself from Gram Sabha consent for forest clearance? | Explained
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has stated that the Forest Rights Act (FRA) does not explicitly require Gram Sabha consent for forest clearance, distancing itself from a common regulatory practice. This stance complicates the approval process for infrastructure projects, which often rely on these clearances to proceed.
Why it matters
This shift in interpretation creates a significant legal and administrative conflict between development goals and tribal land rights protections.
In deliberations with the Union Ministry of Power over government projects delayed due to the ‘critical bottleneck’ of ‘100% Gram Sabha consent under the Forest Rights Act ’ for forest clearance, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has now said that the 2006 law has ‘no provision for obtaining consent of the Gram Sabha for forest clearance’, adding that ‘such matters’ related to Gram Sabha consent ‘do not fall under the purview of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’.
While the FRA itself does not have the language of Gram Sabha consent specifically with respect to diverting forest land for non-forestry purposes, the Union government’s rules and regulations governing the diversion of forests specifically require that all processes under the FRA be completed before the concerned government authority can issue a certificate diverting the forests formally.
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