Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today called for the drafting of a new Indian Forest Act which would give rights of forests to its dwellers and involve them in the conservation and protection.
"Such an act should incorporate provisions to give employment and livelihood to the forest dwellers, make them owners of timber and non-timber forest produce, and clarify the definition of 'forest'," Singh told PTI.
He said the state should become a facilitator of scientific management of forests rather than a sole proprietor of forest produce.
The Congress leader said an estimate of the total revenue from timber and non-timber forest produce of all states in the country was less than Rs3,000 crore.
"If the state governments were compensated for this loss either totally or substantially they are less likely to object," he said.
Singh said the amount of money that is currently being spent on Scheduled Tribes through the tribal sub-plan could be used to compensate State governments in scheduled areas and from the budget in the non-scheduled areas.
The Congress leader said that all encroachments from forest lands prior to October 24, 1980 should be settled and all forest villages should be converted into revenue villages.
"This does not require any amendments in the present law and the task can be accomplished provided there is strong political will in the government," Singh said.
He said that post-1980 encroachments can also be taken by the state governments by formulating a scheme in which encroacher's are assured livelihood with food security in protecting the forests and making them owners of the timber and non-timber forest produce.
The Congress leader said the encroacher's can be given employment in water harvesting schemes or digging a pond/well and could be permitted inter-cropping between the rows of tree plantations.
Singh said that through drip irrigation, plantation can be raised in a short time and timber productivity would also go up.
Revenue earned by the States can be given to the forest dwellers after deducting logging, hauling and storage charges, he said.
This had been done in Madhya Pradesh and can be done in as little time as the next couple of years, without amending any law, he added.
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