Wildlife clearance not must for public facilities

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) has written to the environment ministry clarifying that wildlife clearance is not automatically required for constructing essential public facilities such as schools, anganwadis and roads on forest land under the Forest Rights Act (FRA)- 2006, provided they are recommended by the Gram Sabha.

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MOTA offered a detailed clarification on Section 3(2) of the FRA, which allows diversion of forest land for basic facilities for the benefit of forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers.

The environment ministry in a letter, had said that provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, remain unaffected by the particular section.