Joint
Forest Management Resolution
RAJASTHAN
Circular No. F-7 (39)/ Forest of 16.3.91
The forest land in the state has gradually degraded and denuded
due to increase inhuman and animal population as well as on account of non-participation
of such forest lands by afforestation is quite voluminous, the success of the efforts made
through the state government resources and manpower has been limited. It has been decided
after through discussion of the subject at central, sate and other levels that for the
conservation, development and management of such degraded and denuded forest lands,
cooperation and participation of the local villagers and voluntary agencies through gram
panchayats may be sought from this year. For the implementation of this scheme, the
following orders have been issued in accordance with articles 28, 80 and 81 of the
Rajasthan forest act, 1953 and guidelines circulated, vide government of India’s
letter no. 6-2-89/FD, dated 1.6.1990.
Medium of implementation
With a view to seeking active participation of the local
villagers, the responsibility for the development, conservation and management of the
prices of forest land will be entrusted to the registered tree growers cooperative/forest
labour cooperative society/village forestry conservation and development society and such
other cooperative societies working in the field and constituted in accordance with the
state government guidelines. Where such societies do not exit, efforts will be made by
department officials in cooperation with voluntary agencies to set up such societies.
Maximum Area
A society/agency will be entrusted with the responsibility of
developing maximum of 50 ha of degraded/denuded forest land as well as its conservation
and management. As far as possible, efforts will be made to see that the price of land to
be developed falls within the boundaries of a village so that a village may become one
unit. The society of the villagers closest to the land will be preferred. The work of the
society/agency will be reviewed and if found necessary and proper, extending this facility
to additional forest land will be considered.
The work of afforestation, conservation and management will be
done according to a management plan worked out by the beneficiary society/agency in
consultation with local officials of the forest department and representatives of the
voluntary organisations and villagers. This management plan will be prepared keeping in
view the demand for the species, proper assessment of the needs of the local people, etc.
The local voluntary agency will be responsible for maintaining liaison and contact between
the working society and department officials. The voluntary agencies will merely work as
convenors and catalyses. They will not receive any produce from the area.
Financial Arrangement
Under these order, financial arrangements for the development of
the forest land will be follows:
Grant-in-aid from NWDB government of India
Loan from financial institutions
Financial assistance from industrial housed/commercial/social
welfare institute and public.
Labour contribution through mobilization of resources by the
society/agency.
No financial assistance will be earmarked to the society/agency
from the state’s plan outlay; however, making financial provision from various
current schemes according to the needs may be considered.
Rules and conditions
The institution and the cooperative society will be given
facilities for the development conservation and management of forest land; no private
individual will be eligible for such facility. They will not have any ownership right on
the forest land. This right will vest in the state government though forest department.
The society/institution will not be permitted to do any kind of
agricultural, industrial, residential construction or any other work which does not fall
under the forest development, on the land made available to it for development,
conservation and management.
Grazing will not be allowed on a afforested land.
All residents of the revenue village adjacent to the forest land
made available to the society/institution for development/conservation, could be included,
if the so desire, in the society.
The forest land made available to the society/institution for
development/conservation will have to be guarded against encroachment, grazing, illegal
felling and fire.
An agreement in respect of the forest land made available for
development/conservation will be signed by the society/institution and the local deputy
conservator of forests.
Distribution of produce/income
The facility to collect minor forest produce, except bamboo will
be available to all members of the society in terms of the society in terms of provisions
of the management plan. Grass and fodder will be given free.
When the trees planted on the degraded land will be ready, they
will be felled according to the management plan and the income, from the felled trees as
well as from forest development will be distributed among the members of the local village
society and the government exchequer in the ration of 60 and 40 after deducting the
government expenditure on tree plantation and other development activities. At least half
of the share received by the society will be reinvested on tree plantation.
Assessment of work done
A supervision committee comprising the following is constituted
to access from time to time the work done by the society/institution in accordance with
the management plan:
Forest conservator of the area, (2) Dy. Conservator of forest of
the area, (3) Head of the panchayat samiti/local team leader of the Tree Growers
cooperative society concerned (4) Dy. Conservator of forest (Planning & Monitoring)
and (5) a representative of the voluntary agency/tree growers cooperative society/village
sarpanch.
At least three members of the society including a non-official
member will be present to complete the quorum.
Violation of the approved plan
In case, the forest land made available for development,
conservation, and management is not managed according to the plan, the local Dy
conservator of forest will issue a notice to the society/institution before terminating
the agreement to effect implementation in its working and to make appropriate, smooth
arrangement according to the management plan within a period of three months from the
receipt of the notice and if the society does not improve its working even after receipt
of such a notice, the Dy conservator of forest will be empowered to terminate the
agreement without assigning any reason and the management of the land will be brought
under the forest department. The society may appeal against the decision of the Dy.
Conservator of forest before the chief conservator of forests and director, social
forestry, Rajasthan, Jaipur, within a period of two months from the issue of the orders,
whose decision will be final.
Draft agreement under the order is given below:
This agreement signed between one party (hereafter called the
beneficiary institution and the other party (governor of Rajasthan) hereafter called
facilitators on this …………. Day of ………………
That the beneficiary institution has requested the facilitator
for the management of forest land and vegetation through conservation and free plantation.
And that the fali…………
That the beneficiary…………….
Now that this document is a proof in compliance of the above and
the articles of the act the beneficiary institution binds itself to the execution of the
duties and jobs which it has to do and which have been mentioned in the conditions
explained hereafter and makes an agreement before the facilitator that the institution,
its representative and every person making claim through it shall execute every job
mentioned in the conditions and if the beneficiary institution hereby on its behalf or on
behalf of its representatives acts if the beneficiary institution which in the opinion of
the supervisory committee to be constituted is deemed to be a violation of any of the
conditions, decisions of the said committee in this regard on behalf of the facilitator
shall be binding.
The conditions shall be as follows:
That the forest land as specified in the enclosed schedule is
made available without charging anything for development, conservation and for management
according to the management plan finalised for a period of ……. to ……..
of ……..
That the beneficiary institution shall the following duties and
jobs:
Under the agreement, it will be the duty of the beneficiary
institution that it will protect the piece of land made available to it against any damage
by man or animal, such as illegal felling, grazing, fire etc. beneficiary institution will
be bound to complete all the development and protection works on land by them or through
their representatives.
The beneficiary institution will be bound not to do any
non-forestry works like, agriculture mining, industry, establishment or concrete
constructions etc. by them or by their members on available land allotted for the purpose
of development, protection and management of forests.
The beneficiary institution or its representatives will have no
legal right on the forest land made available by any agency for the development,
protection and management of forest. the agency who is giving facility will have the right
of ownership on forest land.
The beneficiary institution and its members will be bound to do
works like improvement of fencing weeding and hoeing etc. from time to time for the
maintenance of the trees and other vegetation.
The beneficiary institution will be bound to include members
from among the villagers of the revenue villages in the area if the villagers are
interested.
The agency which is giving the facility will demarcate the
available land by its representative will attach the map of the land and also give details
of trees and other vegetation available on the land, before signing the agreement.
The beneficiary institution will be bound not to make any
hindrance on the ways of animals and common people.
The beneficiary institution and its members will be bound to
protect the reserve forests from damage by fire, human interference, or animals and will
be responsible for the loss from any side.
The beneficiary institution and its members will be bound to
protect the land from fire and also to take action to extinguish the fire if any, in the
nearby forest area.
The beneficiary institution and its members will maintain the
demarcation lines of the land.
The beneficiary institution and its members will help the
officers of the forest department to prevent any offence and to arrest the culprits.
According to the management plan, the beneficiary institution
and its members are bound to develop land through tree members are bound to develop the
available land through tree plantation. Financial resources would be mobilised from the
national wastelands development board as grants-in-aid, loan from financial institutions
and financial assistance from clusters of industries, business housed and social
institutions. The expenses being incurred on labour would be mobilized through shramdan.
No additional financial provision should be earmarked for these committees/institutions
which are getting benefits from the state plan. However, according to the needs of various
current plans, financial provisions would be made available. According to the provisions
of the management plan, the beneficiary institution or its members can collect minor
forest produce (except bamboo) like grass, leaves, flowers, fruits, and lops of branches,
etc.. They can cut and take away grass from the area.
Cutting of trees should be permitted according to management
plan if they are ready for harvesting after deducting the maintenance expenditure incurred
by the government ; 60 percent of the net sale proceeds would go to the members and 40
percent to the government. This institution would spend half of the amount on tree
plantation.
The supervisory committee constituted by the state government
would supervise the work or the beneficiary institution and if the work is not found
satisfactory, the concerned DIG would give notice to the beneficiary institution advising
it to improve its work as per the management plan.
After receiving notice, if no improvement is found within 3
months, the DIG on behalf of the facility-giving agency, is free to dissolve the agreement
without assigning any reason. The beneficiary institution/committee can file an appeal
against the DIG order to the chief conservator of forests and the director, social
forestry, Rajasthan within two months. The decision of the chief conservator of forests
and the director, social forestry will be final.
On accepting the procedure, factors and conditions mentioned in
the agreement on behalf of the beneficiary institution, its representative and on behalf
of the facility giving agency, its representative has signed the agreement on
…….. month…….. year …………….. in the presence
of two witnesses from the area of concerned DIG.
Rajasthan Government
Serial No. F7(23) Van/90, Jaipur, dated 26 April, 1991
It is being felt that the active participation of the local
people is vital in rural areas to implement, protect and manage social forestry programmes
such as ; afforestation on panchayat land, pasture land and government wasteland. Also top
priority has been given to this aspect in the National Workshop "Social Forestry for
Environmental Conservation" organised in 1990 on world environment day.
Hence the following orders have been issued to solicit
participation of local in protection and management of forests and woodlots, and on the
procedures to be followed under the forest act. 80 (1), (B) on constitution of village
forest protection and management committees.
Composition of village forest protection and management
committee (VFPMC)
All the households which fall within the boundary of such
village, and those who have right and concessions on village natural resources, are
entitled to become the member of the committee. As far as possible, there will be one
committee for one revenue village, but in special circumstances where people participating
in development have common interest and right to benefits from the land/produce, a
committee of more than one village can also be formed, with the consent of concerned
people of all the villages.
The membership and constitution of the committee
One adult member of every household/family of revenue
village/villages will be entitled to membership of the VFPMC, beat officer, forest
department within whose jurisdiction the concerned villages fall, will prepare the list of
members with the help of gram panchayat. The list will be sent to concerned deputy
conservator of forest social forestry, by the range officer, who in turn will issue orders
of the constitution of VFPMC.
In, those districts where there is no post of deputy conservator
of forest (social forestry), the same will be done by deputy conservator of forest
(Territorial).
Formation of the executive committee
Member of VFPMC will elect a seven-member executive committee.
In those villages/group of villages where the percentage of schedule caste (SC) and
schedule tribe (ST) is 10% each, there will be minimum one member each from SC and ST
communities out of 7 elected members. In those villages/group of villages where percentage
of SC/ST is 15% or less, there will be one member of SC or ST in the executive committee.
Sarpanch / panchs, village secretary patwari will also be a
non-official member of the committee. However, they will not have right to vote. Vanpal of
the area will be member-secretary of the committee.
Function of the executive committee
The village forest protection committee shall hold an annual
general meeting once every year and the executive committee shall meet twice a year. The
member secretary shall convene these meetings. Besides this, memer-secretary will also
maintain coordinate among VFPMC, village panchayat and other government departments.
Vanpal will also maintain records of the committee. Executive committee will
elect/nominate one member village panchayat shall provide necessary of the committee so
that the committee can execute its work smoothly. The executive committee will
specifically maintain a good coordination with village panchayat while executing its
works.
Responsibilities of VFPMC
To ensure protection of its forest(s)/plantation(s) through
members of the committee. VFPMC will make effective arrangements to prevent encroachment,
grazing, fire, theft or damage.
It will be the responsibility of the members of the committee to
protect the forest, and inform the concerned forest department official of any person
attempting encroachment, theft fire or damage to the forest or woodlots assigned for the
protection and management. The committee will protect the forest and woodlots against
grazing, illegal felling, fire, mining and theft.
The committee will determine the rules and procedures for the
collection and distribution of minor forest produce such as grass, leaves, fruits, flowers
and thinning from the forest/plantation in a manner that will ensure sustainable yield
from the area.
In areas where the trees have been planted for commercial
purpose, the committee will ensure harvesting and thereafter the distribution of income
from sale among the members under the supervision of its members and forest officials.
The committee and its members shall help forest officials to
take legal action against persons involved in damaging forest(s)/plantation(s).
To prevent any act which is prohibited under the ruled of
Rajasthan Forest Act. 1993.
The members of the committee will report about the
person/persons involved in cases causing damage to forest(s)/plantation(s), encroachment,
any other forest offence and theft/attempt to theft, to the nearest forest official as
soon as they get the information, and shall fully assist forest officials to take
actions/proceedings against the offenders. The committee will ensure that action against
offenders(s) has been taken by the department.
In case no action is taken, the committee will report the mater
to deputy conservator of forest.
In such panchayat lands, community lands, revenue wastelands and
forest lands whose protection and afforestation has been assigned to VFPMC, the committee,
after discussion with all the members and technical officers, keeping members needs and
technical issues in mind, shall take up the task of pasture land development and
plantation.
To assist forest department in timely execution of works.
It will be the responsibility of members/executive committee to
report about any such activities of a particular member which are found prejudicial and
detrimental to forest9s)/plantation(s); the committee will ensure that its members are not
misusing the rights provided by the state government.
The responsibility of the officer/personnel of the forest
department
The concerned forest officials shall take immediate action on
intimation from the member(s) of VFPMC according to the rules, as soon as they get
information on the likely damage of forest(s)/plantation(s).
Mandal forest officers/deputy conservator of forest shall form
committees, on priority basis, in those villages in district which are progressive/aware.
They shall nominate one vanpal for each committee who shall act as member-secretary of the
executive committee.
Chief conservator of forest, social forestry, Jaipur shall make
available the draft of procedures (to be followed in the distribution of forest
produce/income to the members of committee from the sale of excess produce and for the
maintenance of records, plans, rules etc.) to all the forest officials, district
collectors and committees.
Forest officials/personnel shall provide active support to the
VFPMC in the selection of plantation site, methods of forests protection and the
preparation of micro plan.
Distribution of the produce from the area
The members of committee shall be entitled to get forest produce
on the condition that they protect/take effective care of the forest(s)/plantation(s) for
a minimum of 10 years. On the above condition, committee shall get benefits of produce as
follows:
Before the final harvest
The members of committee will entitled to take headloads of
minor forest produce like grass, leaves, fallen dry twigs, pods, seed, flower and fruits
etc. free of cost.
Munj, buhari and vetiver (khas) obtained from the area will be
sold through auction.
Final harvest
Forest departments working group shall get the final harvesting
done according to rights under the provisions and procedures of the work plan of the area.
The extracted wood shall be collected in two measures.
Having girth of 20 cms or less (inclusive or bark)
More than 20 cms (inclusive of bark).
Wood having girth 20 cm (inclusive of bark) or less shall be
distributed to local people accoreing to the recommendations of VFPMC. The distribution
shall be done under the supervision of local forest official by the executive committee.
Wood with girth more than 20 cms (inclusive of bark) shall be
sold by deputy conservator of forest departmental working group in the local market at the
prevailing price in the presence of members of VFPMC.
OR
All the wood including fire wood and the timber used for
construction purposes, shall be disposed of through the open auction by the concerned
departmental working group as per FD rules, in accordance with the recommendations of
VFPMC and in the presence of members of committee.
VIII Distribution
Fifty per cent of the total income from the sale of wood (girth
more than 20 cms) and from the auction of vetiver, nunj and buhari shall be deposited in
the revenue account of forest department.
Remaining 50% of the income shall go to VFPMC, out of which 50%
shall be distributed equally among the VFPMC members where the committee is not active,
50% shall of the share shall be given of panchayat. Out of such income panchayat/committee
shall utilise 50% for raising plantation in the same land or any new land.
Action on committees non-functioning according to agreement
VFPMC shall enter into an agreement with state government before
starting work in a area. In case a particular member violates any of the conditions given
above in the order or in the agreement, the committee shall cancel the membership of such
member and shall inform the deputy conservator of the forest of the district regarding the
same.
In the cases where committee is not working in accordance with
the general conditions laid down in the agreement, and the committee has not brought in
the required improvement in its functioning even after two written warnings by the range
officers, the deputy conservator of forest shall dissolve the agreement with the aforesaid
committee.
The committee may appeal against the dissolution of agreement to
the concerned conservator of forest whose decision shall be final and binding on both
forest officials and the committee.
District collector shall review the functioning of these
committees for their areas in the meetings of development officer of the district and in
the meetings of the zila parishad and send the report to state forest secretary once in 3
months.
