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Under protest pressure, Pinaryi govt dumps contentious amendment to Kerala Forest Act

The Bill had several controversial proposals, which allowed forest officials to arrest or detain a person without warrant, even outside forest.

After the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media that “The government does not want to go ahead with the bill without allaying the fears in this regard. (File photo)

Faced with mounting protest from within the ruling front and Opposition, Kerala Cabinet Wednesday decided to abandon the Bill to amend Kerala Forest Act 1961. The Bill, which was slated to be presented in the session of the Assembly beginning next week, had several proposals that would adversely affect the people living in 430-odd village panchayats in the state.

After the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the media: “Suggestions and concerns have been raised about the amendments in the bill. The government does not want to go ahead with the bill without allaying the fears in this regard. Framing a rule against the people living in hilly areas and the farmers is not on the agenda of the government, which has taken a serious note of the concern that the departments will misuse the powers vested with it”.

The chief minister said there would not be any amendment that will cause hardship to people or create concern among them.

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There had been several controversial amendments in the Bill, which allowed forest officials to arrest or detain a person without warrant, even outside forest. Penalty for petty forest crimes, such as fishing in forest areas, had increased manifold. Temporary staff on roll were vested with powers of forest officials while the latter were given power to act against pollution of rivers flowing even outside the forest.

Various farmer outfits have been protesting against the proposed amendments. Besides, the Communist Party of India(Marxist)’s Idukki district committee and ruling LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) have also raised concern about the bill, which they feared will lead to high-handedness of forest officials. Opposition Congress-led UDF has planned a massive campaign along the hilly regions of Kerala, which also forced the CPI(M) government to abandon the bill.

As local body elections are 11 months away and assembly elections in April 2026, the government did not want to antagonise people living in areas close to forest tracts, who are already under increasing threat from wild animals.

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