UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — No provision in Forest Rights Act to obtain gram sabha consent for projects: Ministry
Q1. Consider the following functions attributed to the Gram Sabha under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and the Rules made thereunder:
1. Initiating the process of determining the nature and extent of individual and community forest rights, and passing a resolution which is forwarded to the Sub-Divisional Level Committee.
2. Constituting, from amongst its members, committees for the protection of wild life, forest and biodiversity, and monitoring their functioning.
3. Granting consent for diversion of less than one hectare of forest land, involving felling of not more than 75 trees, for specified village development facilities.
4. Issuing the final Stage-II forest clearance permitting diversion of forest land for a hydro-electric project.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Initiating the process of determining the nature and extent of individual and community forest rights, and passing a resolution which is forwarded to the Sub-Divisional Level Committee.
- Constituting, from amongst its members, committees for the protection of wild life, forest and biodiversity, and monitoring their functioning.
- Granting consent for diversion of less than one hectare of forest land, involving felling of not more than 75 trees, for specified village development facilities.
- Issuing the final Stage-II forest clearance permitting diversion of forest land for a hydro-electric project.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 only
- C. 4 only
- D. 2 and 4
Q2. Under Section 3(2) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the Gram Sabha's power to permit diversion of forest land extends to how many categories of Government-managed village development facilities?
Q3. In the process of diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes, which one of the following is the principal body whose appraisal and recommendation the Central Government considers before granting approval?
- A. The Expert Appraisal Committee, which appraises proposals for the diversion of forest land and recommends conditions for their approval
- B. The District Level Committee, which gives the final approval for the diversion of forest land within the district concerned
- C. The Standing Committee of the National Board for Wild Life, which clears all proposals for diversion of forest land outside protected areas
- D. The Forest Advisory Committee, which advises the Central Government on proposals for the use of forest land for non-forest purposes
Q4. Section 2 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 bars a State Government from making certain orders except with the prior approval of the Central Government. How many such categories of orders are enumerated in that section?
- A. Two
- B. Three
- C. Four
- D. Five
Q5. Consider the following pairs of subject and the Union Ministry concerned:
1. Nodal ministry for the Forest Rights Act, 2006 — Ministry of Tribal Affairs
2. Nodal ministry for the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 — Ministry of Panchayati Raj
3. Grant of prior approval for the use of forest land for non-forest purposes — Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
4. Administrative ministry for NHPC Limited — Ministry of Jal Shakti
Which of the above is/are NOT correctly matched?
- Nodal ministry for the Forest Rights Act, 2006 — Ministry of Tribal Affairs
- Nodal ministry for the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 — Ministry of Panchayati Raj
- Grant of prior approval for the use of forest land for non-forest purposes — Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- Administrative ministry for NHPC Limited — Ministry of Jal Shakti
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 3 only
- C. 4 only
- D. 2 and 4
Q6. The overall responsibility for implementing the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, including verification of claims and distribution of titles, rests primarily with which one of the following?
- A. The State Governments and the Union Territory Administrations concerned
- B. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which frames the Rules and monitors progress reports
- C. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, through the State forest departments
- D. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, constituted under Article 338A of the Constitution
Q7. The requirement that a gram sabha certify completion of the forest rights process and record its 'informed consent' before forest land is diverted for a project derives its authority from which one of the following?
- A. Section 5 of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which expressly makes gram sabha consent mandatory for every diversion of forest land
- B. Executive guidelines and rules framed under the forest conservation law, which govern the forest clearance process
- C. Section 4(5) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which bars all eviction and thereby renders gram sabha consent necessary for all projects
- D. Article 244 read with the Fifth Schedule, which requires gram sabha consent for all changes in land use in Scheduled Areas
Q8. In the context of diversion of forest land for infrastructure projects, the term 'Stage-II forest clearance' precisely denotes which one of the following?
- A. The final approval granted once the conditions stipulated in the in-principle approval have been complied with, after which the diversion order may be issued
- B. The in-principle approval by which the Central Government agrees to the proposed diversion, subject to conditions to be complied with by the user agency
- C. The environmental clearance granted after a public hearing, which must invariably precede any grant of approval for diversion of forest land
- D. The clearance granted by the State Board for Wild Life, which alone permits all diversion of forest land falling within protected areas
Q9. As per the Parliamentary panel report on NHPC Limited, the average time taken for obtaining forest clearance for its projects was approximately how many months?
- A. 58 months
- B. 76 months
- C. 106 months
- D. 130 months
Q10. Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the expression 'community forest resource' is best defined as which one of the following?
- A. Forest land held under individual occupation for self-cultivation, subject to a ceiling of four hectares per nuclear family of forest dwellers
- B. An area notified as a critical wildlife habitat, from which all human activity stands permanently excluded once the notification is issued
- C. Village common land recorded as revenue land in the record of rights, over which the State forest department exercises no jurisdiction whatsoever
- D. Customary common forest land within the traditional boundaries of the village, including reserved and protected forests, to which the community had traditional access
Q11. Consultation with the Gram Sabha before acquisition of land in the Scheduled Areas for development projects was first made a statutory requirement by which one of the following enactments?
- A. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006
- B. The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996
- C. The Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, as amended in 2023
- D. The Indian Forest Act, 1927, read with its subsequent State amendments
Q12. With reference to the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Orissa Mining Corporation Ltd. vs Ministry of Environment & Forest (the Niyamgiri case), consider the following statements:
1. The Court directed that the gram sabhas of villages in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts decide on the community's claims relating to the proposed bauxite mining.
2. The decision of twelve gram sabhas was sought in pursuance of the Court's direction.
3. The community whose religious and cultural rights were at issue was the Dongria Kondh, a particularly vulnerable tribal group.
4. All the gram sabhas so consulted approved the mining proposal, following which Stage-II forest clearance was granted for the project.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- The Court directed that the gram sabhas of villages in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts decide on the community's claims relating to the proposed bauxite mining.
- The decision of twelve gram sabhas was sought in pursuance of the Court's direction.
- The community whose religious and cultural rights were at issue was the Dongria Kondh, a particularly vulnerable tribal group.
- All the gram sabhas so consulted approved the mining proposal, following which Stage-II forest clearance was granted for the project.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 3 only
- C. 2 and 3
- D. 4 only