Assam cabinet approves to amend the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 to assign select forest areas to forest-dwelling communities

The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting held at Janata Bhswan in Guwahati on Sunday evening under chairmanship of Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“The state cabinet has also approved to amend the Transit Rules of Assa Forest Regulations, 1891 to exempt certain species of trees from requiring certification from Forest department for felling and transit puposes and these tree species are – mango, black berry, jackfruit, eucalyptus, agar species, sandalwood bamboo, poplar, leteku, paniol, guava black wattle, casuarinas, rubberwood tree, palmyra palm, areca nut, cashew nut, coconut, Israeli babool, citrus species subabool, false Ashoka, tamarind, ahat and silver oak. The cabinet has also given approval to amend the Asam (Control of Felling and Removal of Trees from Non-Forest Lands) Rules, 2002 by inserting Rule 3.8. Under this, 25 species to be exempted from obtaining felling permission from Forest department,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

After the cabinet meeting, announcing the cabinet decisions, the Assam Chief Minister said that, in a bid to streamline recruitment rules, the cabinet approved the Assam Public Service Comission Combined Competitive Examination Rules, 2022 for Group A & B posts.

“This will pave the way for a common recruitment examination for better resource utilization. The cabinet also approved the Assam Direct Recruitment for Class III and Class IV Analogous Posts Rules, 2022 for recruitment in Class III and Class IV posts. The cabinet approved Rs 154 crore for implementation of ‘Free Drugs & Consumables’ scheme for 2021-22 to NHM, Assam to ensure free availability of essential drugs to hospitals in tea garden areas of the state,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The Assam Chief Minister further said that, the cabinet approved Phase I of World Bank-aided Assam Integrated River Basin Management Project worth US $ 125 million; work on integrated water management and flood/river erosion-related works to be taken up in Burhi Dihing and Behi river basins under Phase I worth US $ 83 million (Rs 597.60 crore); US $ 22 million (Rs 158.40 crore) for Disaster Risk mitigation, including setting up 100 climate resilient villages and approximately 50 multipurpose flood shelters; State Financial Concurrence to full DPR of Beki and Burhi Dihing projects worth Rs 1133.70 crore.

Other cabinet decisions are – approval of Rs 1000 crore to support the design and construction of Assam Skill University campus; to improve administrative efficiency and ensure seamless functioning in view of creation of new districts, Water Resources department to be restructured.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)