Jharkhand and CAMPA ACT

CAMPA stands for Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority at both central and state level to ensure expeditious and transparent utilization of amounts realised in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose as given by the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016. The utilization of funds is expected to mitigate the impact of diversion of such forest land.

Due to the continuous diversion of forests at the rate of about 20,000-25,000 hectares per year (according to the Ministry of Environment and Forests), a large sum of money is being accumulated by the government. At present, more than Rs 40,000 crore has been realized and it is increasing at the rate of about Rs 6,000 crore every year.

So, to manage this money, and to utilize it for the designated purposes the CAMPA is proposed to be set up. The compensatory afforestation money and NPV (Net Present Value) collected from the user agency by the state government has to be deposited with the central government. The money will be eventually released to the state for compensatory afforestation or related works.

Levies are imposed on development projects that seek land inside a Reserved Forest or a Protected Area (PA) in a sanctuary or a national park.

These collected levies are accrued in the CAMPA Funds which are to be utilised to plant trees elsewhere in order to ostensibly compensate the loss of forest due to development projects.

Adhoc CAMPA was created on the order of the Supreme Court in October 2002. The Ad-hoc CAMPA decides the procedure of per-verification of credits of levies in the State-wise accounts

To compensate the losses suffered in the interim, the Net Present Value (NPV) of the diverted forest are computed for a period of 50 years, and recovered from the “user agency” that is diverting the forests. The NPV for every patch of forest is computed by an expert committee.

At present, the NPV value varies depending upon the quality of forests. It ranges from Rs 4.38 lakh per hectare for low quality forests to Rs 10.43 lakh per hectare for very dense forests. An expert committee has recently recommended increasing it to Rs 5.65 lakh and Rs 55.55 lakh for poor quality and very dense forests respectively.

As per the act, the CAMPA funds can be used for the following purposes:

• Artificial regeneration (plantation)
• Assisted natural regeneration
• Forest management
• Forest protection
• Infrastructure development
• Wildlife protection and management
• Supply of wood
• Other forest produces saving devices.

Jharkhand and CAMPA

In order to correct the  historical injustice committed to the Adivasis and other forest dweller communities, and promised to right the historic wrongs by recognizing their traditional rights over the forest and forest land under the Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006, known as the Forest Rights Act.

However enforcing the CAMPA is seen as a setback to the forest rights of the Adivasis and other forest dweller communities.

There is huge fund Rs. 42,000 crore remained unspent under CAMPA fund and there would be availability of additional Rs. 600 crore every year under the CAMPA fund. Hence, the Indian Bureaucracy is overwhelmed to enforce the CAMPA.

The state of Jharkhand is one of the crucial examples, which has a long history of resources based conflict between the State and the Adivasi communities, that had begun during the British regime in 1779, when the revenue was imposed on land and forest produces, and the Adivasis’ habitations were also declared as eminent domain and property of the State by enforcement of the draconian laws – the Permanent Settlement Act 1793, Land Acquisition Act 1894, Indian Forest Act 1865 and so on, which facilitated the grabbing of the Adivasis’ lands, territory and resources. After India’s independence, the Laws, policies and programmes remain the same.

Much before the CAMPA was passed by the Indian Parliament, the Jharkhand government had already started the processes for enforcement of the CAMPA.

The Chief Secretary,confirms in a meeting of the Forest officials, held in Ranchi on 25 July 2016 that the Jharkhand Government had already sent a CAMPA plan to the Centre Government. In the financial year 2016-17, the Jharkhand government had proposed to build 36,400 forest fencing pillars, with the investment of Rs. 144 crore, which the Centre has already sanctioned. In the CAMPA fund, Jharkhand will have a share of Rs. 399 crore which can be used now for betterment.

However, the CAMPA lies in conflict with the Forest Rights Act and PESA Act 1996. Both the Acts empower the Gram Sabha (village council) for management, development and regeneration of the village’s natural resources.

Therefore, there was a demand that the CAMPA fund to be given to the Gram Sabhas for the protection, regeneration and management of forest and forest biodiversity.

By: Shashank Shekhar