In its hurry to do away with deemed forest, Modi govt has doomed forest: Jairam

Taking a swipe at the Centre, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said that in its hurry to do away with ‘deemed’ forests, the Narendra Modi government has actually doomed forests.

"After Parliament passed the dangerous amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 last week, which many including me had warned against, the Odisha government was quick to pass orders that 'deemed' forests would no longer be considered as forests," the Congress leader said in a tweet.

"Now the Union Ministry says the state's order is withdrawn. Confusion galore. In its hurry to do away with ‘deemed’ forests, the Modi government has actually doomed forests," the Rajya Sabha MP added.

He also attached a news report of the Odisha government withdrawing the deemed forest order.

Congress has opposed the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Parliament.

In a statement on August 2, Ramesh had said that the substance of the amendments have been bulldozed through in Parliament which reflects the mindset of the Modi government, and the vast gap that exists between its global talk and domestic walk on the environment, forests and the rights of adivasis and other forest-dwelling communities

He also said that the journey of the Bill to soon becoming a law is a case study on how to completely subvert the legislative process.