Union Cabinet clears exemption of ‘bamboo’ from Indian forest act

New Delhi, Nov 25 (KNN) The Union Cabinet  chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President of India yesterday cleared the pending Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 to exempt bamboo grown in non-forest areas from the definition “Tree”.

Commenting on the clearance, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh has hailed the exemption granted to “bamboo" from the Indian Forest Act.

The Minister said that the North Eastern States will benefit from the amendment. He further informed that the amendment was pending since long.

The decision has been hailed as historic because the bamboo was legally defined as a "Tree" under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 which proved to be a major impediment for bamboo cultivation by non-farmers on non-forest land, a release from Ministry for Development of North-East Region informed. (With PIB Inputs)