Annexure 1
Recommendations for Revision of Joint Forest Planning & Management
Order (JFPM) in Karnataka
1)
Any changes to the structure of JFPM must be through suitable amendments
in Chapter III (Village Forests) of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963 and
corresponding changes in the Karnataka Forest Rules, 1969, and not
through a new G.O. The reason is that a structure based on Rules has much more
longevity and legal sanctity than a G.O.
2)
The new Rules must cover not just the process of formation of Village
Forest Committees and their operation, but also the process of identification
and notification of Village Forests, i.e., the land that is to be managed by
the VFC.
3)
This process of constituting a Village Forest and its VFC must be
available “on demand”, i.e., whenever people from a village community come
forward and apply for setting up of a Village Forest and VFC, the official
machinery must be required to respond in a straightforward and time-bound
manner. In this connection, it would be worth looking at the Van Panchayat
Rules of the Uttar Pradesh government (copy attached.)
4)
Any land at the disposal of the Government, irrespective of its legal
status, including all categories of forest lands (Reserve Forests, Protected
Forests, Village Forests), Gomaal, Anadheena, lands under the control of
various corporations and departments, roadsides, canal sides, foreshores of
tanks and any other land free of individual privileges and rights should be
available for constitution of Village Forests, provided the villagers are
willing to take responsibility for the management and protection of these
lands. (If any individual privilege or right holder is willing to give up their
privileges, rights, private land or private forest land to the Village Forests,
they must be allowed to do so and such land must be included as Village
Forest).
5)
Suitable bodies like the Village Forest Tribunals must be set up at the
district level and state level to facilitate and monitor the constitution and
functioning of Village Forests.
6)
Village Forests can be formed at the village or hamlet level. The
general body of the VFC must contain all registered voters (i.e., adult males
and females) of the settlement or hamlet or village or groups of these for whom
the Village Forest has been constituted. But it must exclude those who have
individual rights and privileges like soppinabettas, Kumkis, baane, etc
Unless these privilege-holders are willing to give up their privileges and
merge those areas with the Village Forest.
7)
A Village Forest Management Committee (VFMC) must be duly elected by
each VFC to manage the affairs of the Village Forest and the Village Forest
Committee on a day-to-day basis. Ten members including five women shall be
elected to the VFMC. The committee must include at least two members from
scheduled Castes and schedules tribe and one each landless labourers and
Village artisans.
8)
The elections to the VFMC shall be held within a month of notification
of the Village Forest. The VFMC will elect the President, Secretary and
Treasurer of the VFC from amongst its members. At least one of them must be a
woman.
9)
The VFC must have the rights to harvest and consume all products that
are permitted to be harvested under the sustainability norm. The VFMC must have
the right to regulate the use and harvest of the forest products. Payment to
Government agencies should be only for support services rendered.
10)
The norms for ensuring environmental benefits, sustainable use and
equitable distribution must be laid down by the VFMC and submitted to the
Village Forest Tribunal at the district level which would monitor its implementation.
11)
Other powers as mentioned in Section 10 (v), (vi) and (vii) of the JFPM
order issued by the Government of Karnataka in 1993 and Chapter III (Management
of Village Forests) of The Karnataka Forest Rules, 1969, can apply to the VFMC
with suitable modifications.
12)
The section on Village Forest (Section 28 in Chapter III) of the Indian
Forest Act, 1927 and the rules found therein can be used as models for the
constitution of the Village Forests. The basic spirit of the Village Forest
rules must be drawn from the tenets of the National forest Policy, 1988. The
principles laid down in the Kumaon Panchayat Forest Rules 1931, UP Van
Panchayat Rules 1976, Orissa Village Forest Rules 1985, and the Rajasthan Gram
Dan Act can be followed.
JANA-ARANYA
VEDIKE
(A Forum for Promotion of Participatory Forest Management in Karnataka)