The day on which the Consultative Committee on Environment, Forest and Climate Change had an early morning meeting — August 2, happened to be the same day the Union government completed its process of passing the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The previous day, the government completed the legislative formalities regarding the Biodiversity (Amendment) Bill, 2023 too. At the Consultative Committee meeting, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav spoke of the importance of the conservation of wetlands in the country. He told the members about the Ramsar Convention of 1971, considered to be a landmark initiative for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection.
The same afternoon, Mr. Yadav proposed a Bill which is set to become a disaster for the country’s forests and the forest-dependent people. And, a government that has dealt fatal blows to each and every aspect of the environment, forest and biodiversity, will be put to trial by the coming generations.
Not walking the talk
The timing of the Bill has to be noted for it has been mooted in the run-up to the G-20 summit which is set to take place in India in September. Climate change and the environment have been given due importance on the G-20 agenda. Moreover, as a signatory of the Paris Agreement, India has all along lectured about the necessity to protect the environment, forest and biodiversity. But, by passing the above Bills on Biodiversity and Forest Conservation, the government is signalling that it can’t practise what it preaches.
Both these Bills collectively undermine the Forest Rights Act, 2006 which guarantees the rights of the tribals and other traditional forest dwellers. The government is trying to push back India’s well-founded ideas on conservation going back to the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. Ease of doing business is the watchword of governance in the Modi era and the arithmetic and calculations of business guide the government in all its activities. But, the government has failed to understand that it is difficult for big capital and conservation to go together. For business in the corporate age, the only concern is profit whereas conservation has to take into account the concerns of nature above all.
‘Business’ of conservation
Safeguarding the rights of the people is the primary ‘business’ of conservation. But the propagators of corporate ideology devoted to the unending greed of market fundamentalism have little regard for the environment. They mask their intentions by talking about development. The same approach can be seen in the current Bills. Any development causing peril to the environment cannot be sustainable. The present Bills give no thought to this basic fact. The amendments made to the Forest Conservation Act widen the way for forest clearance for all developmental projects.
One of the consequences of the Bill is the overturning of the celebrated judgments of TN Godavarman vs Union of India (1996). This judgment expanded the meaning of forest to any piece of land with forest-like characteristics. With the passage of the new Bill, land deemed as forest will be opened for non-forest use. The Bill also provides a blanket exemption for defence-related projects in the name of national security. When the defence sector is being heavily privatised, many of these projects will only defend the business motives of corporate players. Experts say the passage of the Bill will lead to the loss of 20%-25% of forest area in the country.
In the Biodiversity Amendment Bill, all rights of the tribal population on forest produce and their traditional knowledge are hijacked to be surrendered to private players. The community rights of the tribals and other forest dwellers will also become a story of the past. In the Divya Pharmacy vs Union Of India (2018) case, the court had mandated that even Indian companies were to take permission from State Bio-diversity Boards and share their revenue with the local community. With this Bill, the government removes the basis of this judgment and gives corporate looters free rein to exploit tribals and forest dwellers. It is worth remembering the following lines from the manifesto of the BJP for the 2019 elections, “We have continuously protected and promoted the interest of forest dwellers particularly the tribal communities... We are committed to continuing our work in this direction.”
The fallout
The assault on ‘mother earth’ propelled by the unending greed of humans is causing unbearable havoc on nature and human life itself. The repeated floods and landslides in the Himalayas tell us about the impending danger. But our development strategists and their political bosses are not in a mood to listen. Pope Francis rightly called the Earth ‘Our Common Home’. When all inhabitants of this home are faced with looming dangers of climate challenges, what should be the Indian response to it? The famous saying of Mahatma Gandhi comes to mind: “The Earth has enough resources to meet the needs of all but not enough to satisfy the greed of even one person.” When the government itself is feeding to the greed of crony corporates, the country has to become more vigilant. This is a duty we have to shoulder for future generations. On this wanton destruction of nature, whatever may be the waxed rhetorical response of the Prime Minister, future generations will not absolve him.
Binoy Viswam is the leader of CPI in Parliament and former Forest and Housing Minister of Kerala
