There is a problem with removing the upper limit of 2.5 hectares of land to be awarded as there is with the extension of the cut-off date to 2005. If the idea is to support traditional forest dwellers, the earlier cut-off date of 1980 would suffice just as well. The present bill also needs to make the beneficiaries and rights holders responsible for ensuring conservation. This will also ensure that opportunistic occupation of forest land by vested interests, as has already reportedly started in Orissa and Maharashtra, will be prevented.

There is no question about the intent of the bill, but some of the provisions need to be changed before it is approved. That would be a fundamental requirement if the twin imperatives of conservation and social justice are to be met.

The writer is, editor, Protected Area Update, a bimonthly newsletter on wildlife and wildlife related issues