The Kerala government will soon amend the Kerala Land Assignment Rules to allow inhabitants of patta land in the hilly areas of Kerala to fell trees, with the exception of certain government-specified species.

Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran and Revenue Minister K. Rajan reiterated the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s position while responding to a calling attention motion raised by Kerala Congress (M) legislator Pramod Narayanan at the Kerala Assembly on Monday.

The Ranni MLA highlighted the struggles of farmers residing on patta land, who were currently unable to fell trees for essential purposes such as meeting the educational, medical or marriage-related expenses. Many farmers living near forest boundaries had been forced to abandon agriculture due to repeated wildlife incursions. Despite facing such woes, these farmers were unable to utilise timber grown on their land for their livelihood.

Cases against farmers

The legislator also pointed out that the Forest department had filed over a thousand cases against farmers for this reason. While the Revenue department had previously issued an order permitting farmers to fell trees, except sandalwood, this directive was later revoked. Despite assurances made by the Ministers in the past, the issue remained unresolved.

Mr. Saseendran said that he had held discussions with the Revenue Minister twice on the matter and that efforts were under way to address the issue at the earliest.

While asserting that the LDF government firmly believed that the trees grown on patta land belonged to the farmers, Mr. Rajan pointed out that the earlier order had to be withdrawn due to widespread misuse. A thorough consultative process with the Law department was under way to establish a fool-proof mechanism to resolve the issue, he said.