Bill to give major boost to India's efforts to increase its green cover gets Cabinet nod

NEW DELHI: The Center on Wednesday gave its approval for introducing a new legislation, giving a major boost to the country's afforestation efforts by creating an institutional mechanism to properly utilize a corpus of Rs 38,000 crore, in the current session of the Parliament.

Besides utilizing the unspent accumulated amount of Rs 38,000 crore for increasing the country's green cover in a planned manner, the new authorities - set up both at Center and state levels under the proposed legislation - will also monitor use of fresh accrual of an estimated Rs 6,000 crore per annum to newly created non-lapsable interest bearing funds.

The legislation - Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 - got its approval by the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday. The Bill is expected to be introduced in the Parliament next week.

The proposed legislation seeks to provide an appropriate institutional mechanism, both at the Centre and in each State and Union Territory, to ensure expeditious utilization in efficient and transparent manner of amounts realized in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose.

Any user agency which diverts forest land for non-forest purpose is, at present, required to deposit an agreed amount to the government body. This amount is supposed to be utilized to mitigate impact of diversion of such forest land.

However, the amount to the tune of Rs 38,000 crore - accumulated with an ad hoc body, Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) over the years - remains unspent.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is, therefore, to provide safety, security and, transparency in utilization of these amounts, which are currently kept in nationalized banks and are being managed by the ad-hoc body.

These amounts would, under the proposed legislation, be brought within broader focus of both Parliament and State Legislatures and in greater public view, by transferring them to non-lapsable interest bearing funds. These funds would be created under public accounts of the Union of India and each State.

"The proposed legislation will also ensure expeditious utilization of accumulated unspent amounts available with the ad hoc CAMPA, which presently is of the order of Rs 38,000 crore, and fresh accrual of compensatory levies and interest on accumulated unspent balance, which will be of the order of approximately Rs. 6,000 crore per annum, in an efficient and transparent manner," said a government note on the proposed legislation.

It said, "Utilization of these amounts will facilitate timely execution of appropriate measures to mitigate impact of diversion of forest land, for which these amounts have been realized".

Apart from mitigating the impact of diversion of forest land, utilization of these amounts will also result in creation of productive assets and generation of huge employment opportunities in rural areas, especially in backward tribal areas.

MAIN FEATURES OF THE PROPOSED BILL:

* Establishment of the National CAF and the State CAFs to credit amounts collected by State Governments and Union Territory Administrations to compensate loss of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose

* Constitution of a National Authority to manage and utilize amounts credited to the National CAF

* Constitution of a State Authority in each State and Union Territory to manage and utilize the amounts credited to the State CAFs

* Establishment of a Monitoring Group to assist the National Authority in monitoring and evaluation of activities undertaken from amounts released from the National CAF and State CAFs

http://ift.tt/1kD5Wuu legislation,Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill,afforestation

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.