 bill no 208 of  2017 the indian forest (amendment) bill, 2017 a billfurther to amend the indian forest act, 1927be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the indian forest (amendment) act, 2017short title and commencement(2) it shall be deemed to have come into force on the 23rd day of  november, 20173 (1) the indian forest (amendment) ordinance, 2017 is hereby repealedrepeal and savingsord 6 of 2017 16 of 1927(2) notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the indian forest act, 1927, as amended by the said ordinance, shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of the said act, as amended by this act statement of objects and reasonsthe indian forest act, 1927 (the said act) has been enacted to consolidate the law relating to forests, the transit of forest-produce and the duty leviable on timber and other forest-produce2 the said act, inter alia, in clause (7) of section 2 defines "tree", which includes palms, bamboos, stumps, brush-wood and canes the bamboo, though taxonomically a grass is treated as tree for the purpose of the said act, and therefore, attracts the requirement of permit for transit under the said act although, many states have exempted felling and transit of various species of bamboos within the states, the inter-state movement of bamboos require permit when being in transit through other states the farmers are facing hardships in getting the permits for felling and transit of bamboos within the state and also for outside the state, which has been identified as major impediment of the cultivation of bamboos by farmers on their land3 hence, it was decided to amend clause (7) of section 2 of the said act so as to omit the word "bamboos" from the definition of tree, in order to exempt bamboos grown on nonforest area from the requirement of permit for felling or transit under the said act, and would encourage bamboo plantation by farmers resulting in the enhancement of their income from agricultural fields4 since, parliament was not in session and immediate action was required to be taken, the indian forest (amendment) ordinance, 2017 was promulgated by the president on the 23rd day of november, 20175 accordingly, the indian forest (amendment) bill, 2017 seeks to replace the indian forest (amendment) ordinance, 20176 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectivesnew delhi;harsh vardhanthe  4th  december, 2017 annexure extract from the indian forest act, 1927 (16 of 1927)2 in this act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,—interpretation clause(7) "tree" includes palms, bamboos, stumps, brush-wood and canes ———— a billfurther to amend the indian forest act, 1927————(dr harsh vardhan, minister of environment, forest and climate change)