The panchayati raj ministry had earlier set up a committee under T Haque to suggest how the Rs 50,000 crore forest produce trade should be altered to provide more income to tribals and other forest-dependent people. The committee recommended setting up a central agency to fix the MSP for produce like honey, tamarind and amla that are collected from the forests. It noted that the state government was acquiring the products from tribals at very low prices while the users - corporates and industries - were reaping huge profits.
With the government keen that the forest produce business be unshackled from the grip of the forest department, the environment ministry too got into the act and attempted to free bamboo - one of the largest and most organized forest produce market - from the complete control of the government and hand over rights to people.
The move towards the reform was not well received by the forest bureaucracy. Read the full report here.
Source: Nitin Sethi, TNN, New Delhi.
