The Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal prepared the scheme for the national afforestation and eco-development board in Nov 2005. The board presented to the state forest ministers' meet in Feb 2005. The secretary then promised to present it to union cabinet.

Amongst many items, joint forest management committees, numbering 84000 covering 64000 villages, contribution was discussed. Several connected acts on conservation of forests and wildlife were brought under discussion but the one which they named as people, were labeled as illegal users and continue to get away because the forest department can't beat the life out of them.

Besides paper and pulp, se veral othe players viz Reliance, UK based O.I. Oil as well British Petroleum are lobbying hard to change laws so as to allow captive plantations on forest lands. Since there was a large number of stake holders, every chance was provided for each stake holder to put forward claims on forest land to suit each one of them, for their raw material.

In this context as a senior forester with six decades of active participation of forest/wildlife sustained management, I would like to submit confirmed on the robust competence of forest management by the forest services. Having received that kind of training both at home and abroad. The forest department is the oldest and the best as adjudged as such, at every world forestry conference. Hopefully each stake holder should equally respond and consider the department as the albest to solve the problem of the forest land faced by country and meet the challenges of the forest management in an integral manner.