 bill no 11 of 2010 the forest produce management board bill, 2010 byshri hansraj gangaram ahir, mp a billto provide for right to earn livelihood to the tribals and other persons who are dependant on forest produce and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-first year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the forest produce management board act, 2010short title and extent1 (2) it  extends to the whole of india 2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—definitions5(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government ofthat state and in all other cases, the central government;(b) "dependant" means  any person living within or near forest areas and who is entirely dependant on forest produce for his livelihood;5(c) "forest produce" includes any of the things found in or removed from any forest such as fruits, flowers, herbs, leaves, gum, honey, barks, moha and other such materials;(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; (e) "processing" means use of forest produce as a raw material to manufacture new products;(f) "right" means rights conferred upon by the provisions of this act; and10(g) "tribal" means a person who belongs to any tribe included in the schedule to the constitution (scheduled tribes) order, 1950 3 subject to the provisions of this act, every tribal or dependant shall have the right to derive livelihood from forest produceright to derive livelihood from forest produce application154 any tribal or dependant may apply to a local committee of his area set up under section 8, of his intention to sell forest produce after due processingforest produce management board5 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, set up a board to be known as the forest produce management board under the union ministry of environment and forests for preparing guidelines regarding uses of forest produce20(2) the board shall be established as a body corporate under this act having perpetual succession and a common seal(3) the chairman of the board shall be appointed by the central government (4) the board shall have such other members as may be prescribed (5) the salaries and other terms and conditions of service of the chairman and other members of the board shall be such as may be prescribed25(6) the board shall have its office in the capital of every state and union territory (7) the central government shall provide to the board such number of officers and staff as is necessary for the efficient functioning of the board(8) the central government, in consultation with the board, may issue general directives relating to salary payable to the staff, their recruitment, training and other service conditions306 (1) the central government shall set up a fund to be known as the forest produce management fund for the implementation of the provisions of this actforest produce management fund(2) the central government and the state governments shall contribute to the fund in such proportion as may be prescribed(3) the fund shall be administered by the forest produce management board35functions of the board7 the forest produce management board constituted under section 5 of this act shall perform the following functions:—(i) prepare a list of forest produce available in every state; (ii) issue licences for collection, processing, buying and selling of forest produceto tribals/dependants;40(iii) provide financial assistance in the form of either grants or loans atconcessional rates of interest, in such manner, as may be prescribed, to the tribals/ dependants for setting up of projects relating to processing of forest produce;(iv) provide marketing facility for the forest produce;(v) pay, in such manner, as may be prescribed, the compensation to the tribals/dependants sustaining loss in projects approved by the board; and(vi) perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by the central government5establishment of localcommittee8 (1) the appropriate government shall set up a local committee in every district, in consultation with the board established under section 5 of this act, to assist the board in performing the functions relating to forest produce collection, processing, buying and selling(2) the district collector shall be the chairperson of the local committee, ex officio10(3) every local committee shall consist of such number of members as may be prescribed by the appropriate government:provided that every local committee shall always include the members of parliament and legislative assembly belonging to that area as members15(4) the appropriate government shall provide to every local committee such number of officers and staff as is necessary for the efficient functioning of the committee9 every local committee shall perform the following functions:—| (                                                                                        | i     | ) prepare a list of forest produce available within the district;               ||------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| functions of                                                                             |       |                                                                                 || the                                                                                      | local |                                                                                 || committee                                                                               |       |                                                                                 || 20                                                                                       |       |                                                                                 || (                                                                                        | ii    | ) receive application for obtaining license from any tribal or dependant for    || setting up of a project for forest produce collection, processing, buying and selling in |       |                                                                                 || the district;                                                                            |       |                                                                                 || (                                                                                        | iii   | ) examine and forward the application received under sub-clause (               || board for granting license or providing financial assistance to set up a project;        |       |                                                                                 || (                                                                                        | iv    | ) communicate granting of license or rejection of an application for license or || financial aid or any other detail sent by the board to the applicant;                    |       |                                                                                 |25| (                                                                      | v    | ) forward application for reconsideration to the board, if any, for granting of   ||------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| license or financial aid in setting up of a project;                   |      |                                                                                   || (                                                                      | vi   | ) take up with authority concerned for provision of land, water and power on      || priority basis to the license holders for setting up of their project; |      |                                                                                   || 30                                                                     |      |                                                                                   || (                                                                      | vii  | ) inspect every project set up with financial assistance of the board to ensure   || proper utilisation of funds released by the board;                     |      |                                                                                   || (                                                                      | viii | ) initiate inquiry against license holders on receipt of complaints of            || irregularities/misconduct; and                                         |      |                                                                                   || (                                                                      | ix   | ) recommend action against license holders found guilty of irregularities/        || misconduct to the board                                               |      |                                                                                   || 35                                                                     |      |                                                                                   || right                                                                  | to   |                                                                                   || appeal                                                                |      |                                                                                   || 10                                                                    | (    | 1                                                                                 || been rejected, shall have the right to appeal to the board directly   |      |                                                                                   |(2) the board shall dispose off the appeal within three months of the receipt of the same;40provided that the board shall afford an opportunity of being heard to everyapplicant before disposing of his appealpenalty11 the board may impose a fine which may extend to rupees one lakh on any personfound guilty after an inquiry conducted under clause (viii) of section 9power to make rules12 (1) the appropriate government may, by notification in the official gazette, makerules for carrying out the purposes of the act5(2) every rule made under this act by the central government shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule10(3) every rule made by the state government under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the state legislature statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe tribals and other persons living in or near forest areas have been earning their livelihood from the forest for centuries they have been enjoying rights over forest produce traditionally earlier the forest areas were supposed to be under the control of society as a whole during the british period, control over forest areas passed into the hands of the government legislations were enacted to this effect such legislations caused adverse impact on the ability of tribals and other persons settled in the forest areas to earn their livelihood they lost their traditional rights over forest produceafter independence, the government of india made various rules to check the massive deforestation and misuse of forest lands the strict approach of local forest officers made it difficult for those depending on forests to earn their livelihood once the forest (conservation) act, 1980 was brought into effect, it became difficult for people living in or around forest areas to exploit forest produce for their livelihood such tribal people are poor and they are not in a position to earn their livelihood from any other source it is the duty of the government to provide self-employment to such people who live in or around forest areas they should be permitted to carry on their traditional occupation which is based on processing of forest produce enabling them to start their own forest based processing plants, industries, etc through financial assistance by the government is the only way to bring these underprivileged sections into the mainstream of the society it will also help in eradicating problems of poverty, unemployment and malnutrition in tribal areas it is necessary that the traditional rights of the tribals over forest produce be restoredhence this billnew delhi;hansraj gangaram ahirnovember 5, 2009 financial memorandumclause 5 of the bill provides for the setting up of the forest produce management board clause 6 provides for the setting up of the forest produce management fund to which the central government and state governments shall contribute in such ratio, as may be prescribed clause 8 of the bill provides for establishment of local committees to assist the board in performing the functions relating to forest produce collection, processing, buying and selling in every district the expenditure relating to states shall be met out of the consolidated fund of the states concerned the expenditure in respect of union territories shall be met out of consolidated fund of indiathe bill, therefore, if enacted will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is likely to involve an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees five hundred crorea non-recurring expenditure of about rupees fifty crore is also likely to be involved memorandum   regarding   delegated   legislationclause 12 of the bill empowers the central government to frame rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character————— a billto provide for right to earn livelihood to the tribals and other persons who are dependant on forest produce and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto—————(shri hansraj gangaram ahir, mp)gmgipmrnd—283ls(s5)—24-02-2010