Consider the following statements :
- 1.As per recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, forest dwellers have the right to fell the bamboos grown on forest areas.
- 2.As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, bamboo is a minor forest produce.
- 3.The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 allows ownership of minor forest produce to forest dwellers.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Answer: B. Statement 1 is wrong: the 2017 amendment to the Indian Forest Act removed bamboo grown in non-forest areas from the definition of 'tree', not forest-area bamboo. Statement 2 is correct: the Forest Rights Act, Section 2(i), lists bamboo as minor forest produce. Statement 3 is correct: Section 3(1)(c) gives forest dwellers ownership of minor forest produce. So 2 and 3 only.
Watch for: Students remember 'bamboo is no longer a tree' and wrongly extend it to forest land.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Wrong because the amendment applied to bamboo outside forest areas.
- C. Wrong because statement 1 is false and statement 2 is true.
- D. Wrong because statement 1 is false.
Source to check: Indian Forest (Amendment) Act, 2017; Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, Sections 2(i) and 3(1)(c)
Answer from the official UPSC key. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.