Wants Tribal Consent Clause Toned Down

New Delhi: The PMO has stepped in yet again to push for dilution of the green clearance procedures, this time asking the environment ministry to render the need for projects to comply with the Forest Rights Act (FRA) almost redundant. The recommendation comes as the latest in a series of moves that the PMO has made to alter the environment and forest clearance process for projects even as it failed to fashion the National Investment Board as an over-arching regulator to supersede the environment ministry. The latest recommendation, substantially denting the importance of what was once UPA’s flagship scheme for tribals — the FRA — has again shown the hands-on approach the PMO has taken to tackle the environmental clearance process.