Industry players may no longer require the explicit consent of the tribals to use forest area, as the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has finally been able to convince Tribal Affairs and Environment Ministries to dilute the Forest Rights Act (FRA) to this effect.
The PMO, through a committee headed by Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterji, had suggested dilution of the FRA to the extent that a consent from tribal gram sabhas for use of forest land was no longer necessary. K C S Deo-led Tribal Affairs Ministry and Jayanti Natarajan-led Environment Ministry had earlier objected to PMO’s move to dilute the FRA.