Ease forest rules for development: State to Centre

Ranchi: Jharkhand has asked the Centre to ease forest clearance norms for proper development of districts in the Maoist zone.
Chief secretary Rajbala Verma, who attended a meeting convened by the Union ministry of home in New Delhi on Friday, said the Centre had exempted road projects from forest clearance and similar norms should be laid down for canal and communication projects.
The meeting was chaired by union home minister Rajnath Singh and attended by chief secretaries of seven Maoist-hit states. Focus was on 35 districts of which as many as 16 are in Jharkhand. Appreciating the concerted effort of the states, Singh said the number of cases of rebel violence has reduced by 42% in 2015 compared to 2013.
An official communique released by the state government said Jharkhand has demanded five additional battalions of CRPF to ensure development work in 13 focus areas in Latehar, Gumla, Bokaro, Giridih, Lohardaga and West Singhbhum. At present 22 battalions of CRPF are deployed in the state.
Verma said forest cover in Jharkhand has changed with time and the state faces difficulty in allotting land for compensatory afforestation against any project proposed on forest land. "As per records Jharkhand has 20% deemed forest which required forest clearance delaying development work and more over searching equivalent land for compensatory afforestation is another roadblock," she added.
Jharkhand has also sought the Centre's cooperation in extending telecommunication, television and radio network to remote areas.
Around 900 proposals for installation of mobile towers are pending in the state and only five radio stations are functional, of which not a single radio station is operational in Santhal Pargana. "Upgrading Ranchi Doordarshan to a regional centre for transmission and opening of more radio stations will not only engage local artists but will also help in countering the propaganda machinery of Naxals," she said.
Jharkhand also highlighted the issue of poor financial inclusion because of lack of bank branches. CS said that there was an urgent need to open one bank branch in every panchayat for which the building infrastructure of panchayat secretariat could be utilised. "Out of 4402 panchayat there are only 1500 bank branches whereas only 458 post offices are functional in the state," she said.