Garrotting the carrot
• The state governments have the right to declare any government land as "reserve forests". The Centre will monopolise the decisions directed towards the state government to constitute reserve forests
• No people's rights will be enteriained in the reserved forests
• The state governments can bypass procedural necessities in extending immediate protection to any forest land, depriving people of their rights by declaring it a protected forest
• The state governments can deny villagers access to any village forest land by declaring it "protected" if it feels that "unrestricted access- is detrimental to biomass creation
• The Centre has overriding powers in declaring any forest "protected"
• The government can reserve any class of trees
• It can declare any portion of protected forests closed for grazing or collecting forest produce
• The Central government reserves the power to demote protected forests to open season
• Village forests can be constituted to meet the biomass needs of the community, but reserve forests can- not be converted into village forests
• The rights of villages to enjoy usufruct, fuelwood and other benefits, will be subject to the management plan prepared by the local body in consultation with the forest department
• The village community will have to restrict its usage to limits stated in' the management plan
• State governments reserve the right to take over the management of the village forests if it is dissatisfied with the functioning of the local body
• State governments can declare any forest "agro forests" if it considers that shifting cultivation is harming it. All claims of ihum; cultivators will be settled and shifting cultivation will have to cease within 3 years.