Question : Compensatory Afforestation Fund

(a) the amount allotted towards the Compensatory Afforestation Fund during the last five years, year-wise;
(b) the various activities which are proposed or have been taken up using these funds;
(c) whether any steps have been taken by the Government to ensure the proper utilization of Compensatory Afforestation Fund allocated to States/UTs;
(d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(e) whether any cases of misuse of this fund have come to the notice of the Government during the aforesaid period, if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

(a) Fundsreleased by Ad-hoc CAMPA towards Compensatory Afforestation during the last five years is annexed at Annexure-A. An amount of Rs. 47436 crore has also been disbursed from theNational Fund to the State Funds in August, 2019. The details are at Annexure –B

(b) Under Section 5&6 of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016 and Rules 5&6 of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Rules, 2018 various activities are taken up from CAMPA funds, which include site specific activities such as compensatory afforestation, catchment area treatment, integrated wildlife management plan etc along with other non-site specific permissible activities such as assisted natural regeneration, silvicultural operations in forests, protection of plantations and forests, forest fire prevention and control operations, improvement of wildlife habitat etc.

(c) & (d) Section 9 (3) of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016 provides for creation of a Monitoring Group, which has already been notified. The notification is annexed at Annexure-C. The Monitoring Group will be responsible for evolving independent system for concurrent monitoring and evaluation of the works implemented in the States and Union Territories utilising the funds released by the National Authority and the State Authorities. The Group will also inspect and undertake financial audit of these works. In addition, it will devise measures for transparency and accountability. The Group can also utilize the services of Regional Offices of the Ministry. Besides this, the Monitoring and Evaluation Wing of State Forest Departments will carry out monitoring of works regularly. The Annual Plans of Operations of the States also have to necessarily include a separate component regarding “Third Party” monitoring.

(e) Complaints alleging irregularities in plantations of 2015, 2016 and 2017 carried out through CAMPA funds in the State of Chhattisgarh were received, which were examined by the State Government. The State Government did not find any substance in the complaints.


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