Law ministry tells Prakash Javadekar only tribal ministry can tweak forest act rules

NEW DELHI: Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has lost round one in his fight against Jual Oram-led tribal affairs ministry on easing rules for projects in tribal areas. The law ministry has, through a legal opinion, told Javadekar’s ministry that this subject falls in the domain of the tribal affairs ministry, which alone can make any changes.
Javadekar moved the law ministry after Oram contested the environment ministry’s attempt to ease rules under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), which is essentially the tribal ministry’s preserve. Earlier this year, the green ministry came up with a draft notification seeking to substantively delink procedures for forest nod for projects from FRA provisions.

Environment ministry officials, who did not wanted to be quoted, told ET that the ministry will make a second reference to the law ministry with fresh arguments. It’s now a question of Javadekar’s political muscle, as his ministry claims to be pursuing this at the instance of the Prime Minister’s Office.



Oram’s contention, on the other hand, is that he is not against the PM’s larger initiative to cut down red tape for project clearances. But the correct way, in his view, would be to amend the Forest Rights Act rather than altering the rules, which could go against the spirit of the Act.

The tribal affairs ministry is now trying to procure a copy of the opinion, which was only sent to the environment ministry since it had asked for legal advice.

The two ministries have been at loggerheads over the issue of Gram Sabha nod for forest clearances.

The environment ministry wants this step to be done away with, at least in the stage-1 phase of any project when in-principle clearances are given.

But FRA is a detailed law, which has its political origins in Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s protests against mining in Niyamgiri Hills. While the UPA government did make the law, it began considering exemptions for linear projects — rail, road and transmission lines — during its final days to battle the overall economic slowdown. Even at that time, a bitter tussle had broken out. It seems the story is following a similar script under the Modi administration, despite clearer political intent.

“The issue of delinking the forest clearance procedure is yet to be finalised — how it can be delinked and what are the repercussions. The law ministry has responded, but they want more issues to be clearly defined so these can be addressed. The environment ministry will be making a reference back to the law ministry,” a senior environment ministry official told ET.

He confirmed that the law ministry had made it clear the tribal affairs ministry alone could make any procedural changes to FRA.