BENGALURU: A group of 40 retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers from across the country on Wednesday made public the guidebook they have prepared to show how the misuse of Forest Rights Act can be prevented and forest lands secured.
The guidebook - Foresters’ Guide on Forest Right Act (RoFR) -- was released on August 15, through video conference, by retired principal chief conservator of forests, Karnataka, BK Singh, along with his other retired colleagues. The book comes out a few days after the retired officials penned a letter to PM Narendra Modi and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) pointing to irregularities, misuse of FRA, encroachments and handing over of large parcels of forest land without proper verification and documentation.
Singh said this guide has been prepared from the perspective of forest field officers implementing FRA to ensure its proper implementation and prevent its misuse by ineligible claimants especially who encroached forest land after the cut-off date of December 13, 2005. The guide discusses the process of implementation of FRA, role of foresters at gram panchayat and division or district level. It also speaks of the Act, the rules and guidelines issued by the Centre.