The Government of India enacted the Forest Conservation Act in the year:

The correct answer is B) 1980. The Forest (Conservation) Act was enacted in 1980 to stop forest land being diverted for non-forest purposes without prior central approval. It came into force on 25 October 1980.

Why the others are wrong:

• 1976: The 42nd Amendment moved forests and wild animal protection from the State List to the Concurrent List. That was a constitutional change, not the Act itself.
• 1983: No central Act of this name was passed then. The date has no link to this law.
• 1988: The National Forest Policy was adopted in 1988, and the Act was amended the same year. The original enactment remains 1980.

Core concept: the 1980 Act, along with the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and the Environment Protection Act 1986, forms the statutory base of forest governance. Mains angle: the Godavarman case (1996) widened the meaning of "forest" to its dictionary sense, which extended the Act's reach.

Note: the Act was amended and renamed the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam in 2023, so current answers should reflect that.

Trap: Aspirants pick 1988 because of the amendment, or 1976 because of the Concurrent List shift. Remember the year of original enactment.