(a) the amount allocated under Forest Development Programme during the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise including Assam;
(b) the details of forest villages developed so far in the country, State-wise including Assam;
(c) the number of families covered under the said programme; and
(d) the steps taken by the Government to develop the remaining forest villages in the country, including Assam?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) The amounts released for forest development to the States/UTs under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes of the Ministry such as Intensification of Forest Management Scheme and National Afforestation Programme during the last three years is given in Annexure I and II respectively. The total funds allocated for States/UTs including Assam under the said schemes for the current financial year is Rs. 50.00 crores and Rs.60.00 crores respectively. During the current financial year, funds will be released after examination of the proposals of the States/UTs as per the guidelines of the respective schemes.
(b) & (c) The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change does not have any scheme for the development of forest villages in the country. However, the Ministry is implementing the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of “Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’’ and “Project Tiger” under which funds are provided to States/UTs for relocation and rehabilitation of forest villages. The State/UT-wise details of funds provided for the said purpose under the above schemes during the last three years are given at Annexure-III. The information on number of families covered under the said schemes is not maintained at the level of the Ministry.
(d) The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 recognises the settlement and conversion of forest villages, whether recorded, notified or not, into revenue villages as a forest right. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which is the nodal agency for implementing this Act, has also issued guidelines on 08.11.2013 on conversion of all forest villages, old habitations, unsurveyed villages and other villages in the forests, whether recorded, notified or not, into revenue villages under section 3 (1) (h) of the said Act.
Rehabilitation and conversion of the forest villages is a continuous process, hence no target and time limit for such rehabilitation/regularisation of these villages has been fixed.
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