The story so far:
This procedure of obtaining an NOC from Gram Sabhas is what has commonly come to be known as the procedure for Gram Sabha consent for forest clearance. The FRA explicitly states that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal Ministry responsible for the law’s implementation. It was in these discussions that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs distanced itself completely from the issue of Gram Sabha consent. Detailed in its report, the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Public Undertakings’ discussions with the NHPC and Power Ministry officials showed what the issue with Gram Sabha consent was. It noted specifically that while seven Gram Panchayats had granted consent for the project, consent was pending from three Gram Panchayats.
These guidelines, under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, require the identification of potential FRA claimants, the recognition of their rights where applicable, the vesting of these rights, and then obtaining a No Objection Certificate from the Gram Sabhas concerned regarding the proposal to divert the said forest land for the stated purpose — all of it as mandated under the FRA. In deliberations with the Union Ministry of Power over government projects delayed due to the ‘critical bottleneck’ of ‘100% Gram Sabha consent under the Forest Rights Act ’ for forest clearance, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has now said that the 2006 law has ‘no provision for obtaining consent of the Gram Sabha for forest clearance’, adding that ‘such matters’ related to Gram Sabha consent ‘do not fall under the purview of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’. Because of pending Gram Sabha consent, in talking about the delays to projects like the Teesta-IV HEP, Power Ministry officials told the House panel that the project was being stalled.
The Committee thus recommended that the Power Ministry should initiate discussions with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change on the feasibility of adopting a “qualified supermajority consent” approach, where consent from 70% to 75% of the affected Gram Sabhas would be sufficient to obtain forest clearance for “large hydropower infrastructure projects of national importance”. 2006 or FRA, that are prescribed to be followed for forest clearance under the Forest Conservation Act, the Tribal Affairs Ministry has told the Power Ministry that issues of Gram Sabha consent “do not fall under the purview of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs” While the issue in question principally deals with procedures mandated by the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act.
the Union government’s rules and regulations governing the diversion of forests specifically require that all processes under the FRA be completed before the concerned government authority can issue a certificate diverting the forests formally While the FRA itself does not have the language of Gram Sabha consent specifically with respect to diverting forest land for non-forestry purposes.
