The Kerala government has put on hold the Kerala Forest Amendment Bill, 2024 after concerns were raised about several provisions, announced Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday.

The bill was expected to be presented in the Assembly during the session beginning next week, according to The Indian Express.

However, farmers from hilly regions of the state had been protesting against the bill since it was made public, reported The New Indian Express. Provisions regarding forest officials being given additional powers to arrest or detain a person without a warrant had raised concerns.

Another contentious provision promised to expand the definition of a “forest officer” to include beat forest officers, tribal watchers and forest watchers, who are often hired temporarily and on political recommendations, according to Hindustan Times. The farmers feared this would give sweeping powers to the forest department to harass them.

“The government does not want to go ahead with the bill without addressing the fears regarding the bill,” the chief minister said on Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting. “Framing a rule against the people living in hilly areas and the farmers is not on the agenda of the government, which has taken a serious note of the concern that the departments will misuse the powers vested with it”.

The Idukki unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which Vijayan is a member of, and its ally Kerala Congress had also raised concerns about the amendment bill, according to The Indian Express. They feared it would lead to the high-handedness of forest officials.

Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front had planned to mobilise farmers from the hilly regions of the state during a campaign starting January 27.

The bill had promised to raise the fines for several offences significantly. For example, the fine for petty forest crimes was proposed to increase from Rs 1,000 to Rs 25,000, while some offences that attracted a Rs 25,000 penalty were to be raised to Rs 50,000.

Other contentious provisions included making dumping of waste in rivers within forests or in rivers that flow in human settlements before entering forest areas an offence. This raised fears that forest officials had authority over rivers outside forest boundaries.

The proposals would negatively affect around 430 villages of Kerala, critics had said.