Civil society activists today demanded that the draft National Forest Policy 2018 be withdrawn and the existing legal frameworks such as the Forest Rights Act (FRA) be implemented properly.
Around 140 civil society organizations from around 15 states have written to the Environment Ministry in this regard.
The activists said Section 4.8 in the draft National Forest Policy 2018 talks about new legal frameworks but no reference has been made to FRA 2006.
"Then comes 4.11 which is about 'harmonization with other policies and laws', which explicitly threatens the edifice of the existing Forest Rights Act.
"It says that community forest resources management under the FRA will be addressed as 'participatory forest management' and the same will be addressed through the proposed community forest management mission," they said.
"This is one of the most objectionable proposals in the draft policy and it is unclear on what basis this is being proposed," they said.
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