Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday said he has expressed his reservations about the Centre’s Forest Conservation Rules 2022 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as they “brazenly dilute” powers of local gram sabha and “uproot” the rights of forest-dwelling communities.

The rules have eliminated the earlier mandatory requirements of obtaining the prior consent of the Gram Sabha before utilising forestland for non-forestry purposes, read the letter dated December 1.