Solution

The Bill broadens the scope of the Act by inserting a Preamble. The Act's name was changed to Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 to reflect the potential of its provisions.   The Act, which was initially applied to notified forest land, was later extended to revenue forest land and lands recorded as forest in government records. The amendments seek to streamline the application of the Act to recorded forest lands, private forest lands, plantations, etc.   The Bill proposes certain exemptions to encourage afforestation and plantation outside forests. 0.10 ha of forest land has been proposed to provide connectivity for habitation and establishments located on the side of roads and railways, up to 10 ha of land proposed for security related infrastructure and up to 5 ha of forest land in Left Wing Extremism Affected Districts for public utility projects. These exemptions include strategic projects related to national security within 100 km of the International Borders, Line of Actual Control (LAC), Line of Control (LoC) etc.