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Forest Amendment Bill Put on Hold: Kerala CM

Hindustan Times Bengaluru

|

January 16, 2025

The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to put on hold the contentious Kerala Forest (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the wake of protests and concerns about some of the provisions of the legislation.

- Vishnu Varma

KOCHI:

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, underlined that the government would not take the legislation forward without allaying the concerns about the bill among various stakeholders.

"There are a lot of concerns about the Kerala Forest (Amendment) Bill in the society. The amendment recommendations were first put forward in 2013 when UDF was in power. At that time, the additional principal forest conservator prepared a draft bill. That was the beginning. The amendment would criminalise people who stop vehicles inside forests with the purpose of entering forests and committing crimes. Anyway, since there are concerns about the present form of the amendment bill, the government is not ready to move forward without allaying them. The government views seriously the concerns among some about a department abusing the powers vested with them," Vijayan said.

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