SHILLONG: The first meeting on the draft amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 held on Monday, has culminated with a decision to meet again on August 27.
The members of the Draft Amendment Committee of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) made an in-depth study of the existing act and the proposed amendment.
The meeting was attended by MDCs, MLA of Nongstoin, Macmillan Byrsat who is also the chairman of Meghalaya Law Commission, Executive Member (EM) in charge of Forest, Vincent Ranee, John Kharshiing (advisor of Meghalaya Land and Forest Owners Association) among others.
Speaking to media persons, KHADC Chief Forest Officer-cum-secretary of the committee, R. Kylla said the committee will study the necessary documents and proposals and views will be sent to the state government and it will ensure that the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution is not affected by the amendment of the Act.
Kharshiing said the proposed amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 should not come in conflict with the land tenure system of the indigenous communities.
Concerns were raised on resolving the long pending issues relating to conflict with central legislation for the last 39 years since passing the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The committee has been given two months to submit their views to the state government.
Kharshiing, who is also the adviser of Meghalaya Land and Forest Owners Association (MLFOA), has written to the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) Chief Executive Member (CEM) Teinwell Dkhar to form an All Party State Committee to seek resolution for exemptions from central legislation in conflict with various customary and social land laws prevailing in Meghalaya.
Kharshiing referred to the draft Indian Forest Act 2019, the long pending Meghalaya Assembly Resolution of April 13, 2000 for exemption of Forest, Conservation Act 1980 and subsequent Assembly resolution on rights of ownership of land and mineral resources and other state legislation and policies on Forest, Biodiversity, Mining and Quarry Permits and the recent July 3, Supreme Court ruling on Customary and Social Land Laws in Meghalaya.
The MLFOA, while appreciating the objectives of the proposed draft Indian Forest Act 2019, after in-depth deliberations has found that the proposed draft like many previous central legislations has been framed based on the land tenure system prevailing in other parts of the country unlike in Meghalaya.
In this connection, he drew the attention of the KHADC to jointly initiate with the state government to take necessary steps to resolve the conflicts prevailing on the ground due to the lack of clarity within the Sixth Schedule to the constitution.
Kharshiing said there are issues of conflict regarding wood based industries due to the central laws.
He also pointed out to another issue related to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, Meghalaya Biological Diversity Rules, 2010, given the customary & social land laws of the Khasi Jaintia and Garo people which mandates the local bodies Hima/Elaka of the states to prepare People’s Register of Biodiversity Registers, which is considered to be the basic record of a region’s biological resources such as plants, animals and the traditional knowledge of the local people.
Kharshiing also said that the customary and social practice of the indigenous people are also in conflict with The Wild Life Protection Act, 1972 especially with the customary religious practices such as the ancient religious Shad Khla ceremony conducted in some of the sacred forests of Khasi & Jaintia Hills.
