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Q55 (IAS/2019) Environment & Ecology › Environment Laws, Policies & Institutions (India) › Forest Rights Act Official Key

Consider the following statements : 1. As per recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, forest dwellers have the right to fell the bamboos grown on forest areas. 2. As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, bamboo is a minor forest produce. 3. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 allows ownership of minor forest produce to forest dwellers. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Result
Your answer: —  ·  Correct: B
Explanation

The correct answer is option B (statements 2 and 3 only).

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) grants legal recognition to the rights of traditional forest dwelling communities and recognizes thirteen sets of rights that vest forest rights and accord tenurial security to individuals and communities[1]. The Act protects ownership rights of Gram Sabha over minor forest-produce[3], making statement 3 correct. Statement 2 is also correct as the FRA classifies bamboo as minor forest produce. However, statement 1 is incorrect because the amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 did not grant forest dwellers the right to fell bamboo from forest areas. The amendment related to bamboo actually declassified bamboo grown in non-forest areas, removing it from the definition of "tree" under the Act, thereby allowing its cultivation and use in non-forest lands without requiring permits. The FRA provides for community rights such as nistar, which secure traditional access and entitlements over local forest resources[5], but felling rights in forest areas remain regulated.

Sources
  1. [1] https://meghsja.gov.in/sites/default/files/Reading-Materials/FAQs%20-%20Community%20Rights%20under%20FRA.pdf
  2. [2] https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/19313/1/the_indian_forest_act%2C_1927.pdf
  3. [3] https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/19313/1/the_indian_forest_act%2C_1927.pdf
  4. [4] https://meghsja.gov.in/sites/default/files/Reading-Materials/FAQs%20-%20Community%20Rights%20under%20FRA.pdf
  5. [5] https://meghsja.gov.in/sites/default/files/Reading-Materials/FAQs%20-%20Community%20Rights%20under%20FRA.pdf
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. Consider the following statements : 1. As per recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, forest dwellers have the right to fell th…
At a glance
Origin: Mostly Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 0/10 · 3.3/10
You're seeing a guest preview. The Verdict and first statement analysis are open. Login with Google to unlock all tabs.

This question is a classic 'Current Affairs Trap'. The 2017 amendment regarding bamboo was major news, but the trap lay in the specific geography (forest vs. non-forest areas). You cannot rely solely on headlines; you must read the 'fine print' of legal amendments.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Does the recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 grant forest dwellers the right to fell bamboo grown in forest areas?
Origin: Weak / unclear Fairness: Borderline / guessy
Indirect textbook clues
Indian Polity, M. Laxmikanth(7th ed.) > Chapter 92: World Constitutions > 2019TEST PAPER > p. 756
Strength: 5/5
“UPSC Questions on Indian Polity (General Studies-Prelims 2013-2023) '757 • 2. As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, bamboo is a minor forest produce. • 3. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 allows ownership of minor forest produce to forest dwellers. Which of the statements given above are correct? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only • The 44th Amendment to the Constitution of India introduced an Article placing the election of the Prime Minister beyond judicial review. • The Supreme Court of India struck down the 99th Amendment to the Constitution of India as being violative of the independence of judiciary.”
Why relevant

States that under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, bamboo is classified as a 'minor forest produce' and the Act allows ownership of minor forest produce to forest dwellers.

How to extend

A student could use this to argue that if FRA 2006 already recognises ownership of bamboo as minor forest produce, any amendment to the Indian Forest Act would need to be understood in relation to FRA's pre-existing rights.

Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 10: Indian Forest > ro.3.2. The Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest llwellers (Recognition ofForest Rights) Act, 2006 > p. 165
Strength: 4/5
“ro.3.2. The Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest Llwelvers (Recognition ofForest Rights) Act, 2006 • The Forest Rights Act, 2006 provides for the restitution of deprived forest rights across India, including both individual rights to cultivated land in forestland and community rights over common property resources. • The Act is significant as it provides scope and historic opportunity of integrating conservation and livelihood rights of the people.”
Why relevant

Explains the Forest Rights Act, 2006 provides restitution of individual and community forest rights, including community rights over common property resources.

How to extend

One could check whether rights to fell bamboo would be encompassed under 'community rights' and compare which law (FRA 2006 vs Indian Forest Act 1927) governs such rights.

Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 10: Indian Forest > Salient Features > p. 166
Strength: 3/5
“• O Nodal Agency for the implementation is MoIA. • r This Act is applicable for Tribal and Other Traditional Forest Dwelling Communities. • r The Act provides for recognition of forest rights of other traditional forest dwellers provided they have, for at least three generations prior to 12.2005, primarily resided in and have depended on the forest or forest land for bonafide livelihood needs. A "generation" for this purpose would mean a period comprising of 15 years. • The Act provides that no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dwellers shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is completed.​•”
Why relevant

Details who the Forest Rights Act applies to and that it prevents eviction of forest-dwelling STs/communities until recognition/verification is completed.

How to extend

A student might infer that any change allowing felling of bamboo would interact with FRA processes and protections for dwellers, so one should verify whether the amendment overrides, complements, or conflicts with FRA provisions.

India and the Contemporary World - I. History-Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 4: Forest Society and Colonialism > Fig.9 – One aisle of a managed poplar forest in Tuscany, Italy. > p. 84
Strength: 3/5
“They planned how much of the plantation area to cut every year. The area cut was then to be replanted so that it was ready to be cut again in some years. After the Forest Act was enacted in 1865, it was amended twice, once in 1878 and then in 1927. The 1878 Act divided forests into three categories: reserved, protected and village forests. The best forests were called 'reserved forests'. Villagers could not take anything from these forests, even for their own use. For house building or fuel, they could take wood from protected or village forests.”
Why relevant

Describes historical Forest Acts (1865, 1878, 1927) and notes that earlier laws created 'reserved forests' from which villagers could not take anything.

How to extend

Use this historical pattern to consider that the 1927 Act traditionally restricted local rights, so an amendment claiming to grant new rights would be a notable departure requiring explicit text or policy change.

Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 23: India and Climate Change > 23.9.4. Forestry > p. 301
Strength: 2/5
“• India has a strong and rapidly growing afforestation programme. The afforestation process was accelerated by the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, which aimed at stopping the clearing and degradation of forests through a strict, centralized control of the rights to use forest land and mandatory requirements of compensatory afforestation in case of any diversion of forest land for any non-forest purpose.”
Why relevant

Explains the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 centralised control to stop clearing and required strict control of rights to use forest land.

How to extend

A student could treat this as a reminder that central statutes often limit local extraction rights; thus one should check whether the purported amendment conflicts with other central forest-conservation controls.

Statement analysis

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Statement analysis

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SIMILAR QUESTIONS

CDS-I · 2016 · Q86 Relevance score: 2.71

Which of the following statements relating to the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 are correct ? 1. The Act recognizes forest rights of forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes who have been occupying the forest land before October 25, 1980 2. The onus of implementation of the Act lies at the level of the State / UT Governments 3. The Act seeks to recognize and vest certain forest rights in the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers Select the correct answer using the code given below:

IAS · 2018 · Q98 Relevance score: 1.58

Consider the following statements : 1. The definition of "Critical Wildlife Habitat" is incorporated in the Forest Rights Act, 2006. 2. For the first time in India, Baigas have been given Habitat Rights. 3. Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change officially decides and declares Habitat Rights for Primitive and Vulnerable Tribal Groups in any part of India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

CDS-I · 2024 · Q68 Relevance score: 1.49

Consider the following statements about the Mauryan State and the forest people: 1. The forest people were subjected to new forms of political and economic dominance and the necessity to subordinate and assimilate them led to a change in the earlier attitude of excluding these people from imperial territory. 2. The State recognised that the forest produce was the sole monopoly of the forest people. 3. The State was concerned with the conservation of forests and to this end the burning of forests was prohibited. 4. The forest people could be harnessed to serve the State and could be used as troops, spies and assassins. How many of the above statements is/are correct?