Environment ministry rejects move to empower tribals citing a British law

The Environment ministry has cited a law passed by the British to curb rights of tribals to reject a move aimed at financially empowering those living in forests.

Updated on: Nov 20, 2010, 19:51:33 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

The Environment ministry has cited a law passed by the British to curb rights of tribals to reject a move aimed at financially empowering those living in forests.

An inter-ministerial committee to suggest changes in two laws governing tribal areas, The Forest Rights Act and Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, wanted bamboo to be categorized as minor forest produce.

As per the law, tribals and forest dwellers can access minor forest produce. Bamboo, a major forest resource, was defined as timber, thus making its harvesting an illegal activity as per law.

“Many poor tribals had been put in jails for doing something which had been their traditional practice,” said National Advisory Council member N C Saxena at a recent workshop organized by Centre for Science and Environment.

The committee, a part of the government’s effort to improve the financial resources of tribals, suggested amendments in laws so that tribals can earn good money by selling bamboo for producing paper.

It was suggested that if bamboo is defined as minor forest produce it could be enlisted under the community rights in Forest Rights Act, thereby benefiting a large number of poor tribal population. Since FRA was implemented in 2008, only a few hundred claims over minor forest produce have been accepted.

Environment ministry rejected the proposal saying the Indian Forest Act of 1927 defines bamboo as timber. The law was brought to suppress uprisings in tribal areas and take away traditional their rights. “The forest are regulated by the 1927 Act and as per it bamboo is a major forest produce over which only the government has right,” a ministry official said, while explaining the reasons for rejecting the move.

The ministry decision has irked many forest right activists, who claim that the ministry wants to continue with colonial regime in Indian forests. The MoEF view could be a big impediment in the UPA-2 efforts to make tribals, especially in Naxal affected areas, as part of inclusive economic growth. For this, a change in the mining laws allowing tribals 26 per cent stake in profit of mining companies is being finalized.

For other non-timber forest produce, the environment ministry has asked state governments to declare minimum support price to protect forest dwellers from exploitation by intermediaries.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.