Environment ministry rejects charge of 'subverting' FRA, says minister's statement misquoted

NEW DELHI: The Environment Ministry has strongly rejected allegations by forest rights groups that it is attempting to "subvert" the Forest Rights Act (FRA), calling them a "gross misunderstanding of facts" and asserting that it remains committed to both environmental protection and the welfare of forest-dependent communities.

In a recent letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, more than 90 forest rights organisations had accused the ministry of trying to undermine the FRA and demanded that Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav clarify his reported statement that the "FRA leads to forest degradation".

The groups said the minister's remarks, published in a newspaper article on June 5, were "false, misleading, legally untenable and an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the FRA".