To
Smt Sarada Muraleedharan
Chief Secretary
Govt of Kerala
Dear Smt Muraleedharan,
I have come across a distressing news report that indicated “forest department officials responsible for demolishing three tribal huts at the Kollimoola tribal settlement in Begur, part of the Tholpetty forest range in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS)“
The tribals are original residents of forests and the forest officials have no right either to displace them or demolish their huts. Moreover, under the Forest (Rights) Act [The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006], they have occupational rights and community rights in forests. The local tribal Gram Sabhas have a key role in taking decisions under the Act. The forest officials tend to ignore such rights and act in a ham-handed manner violating human rights in addition to violating the Act.
Such illegal, coercive action by forest officials also attracts the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
I request you to get this matter investigated and action taken against the concerned officials, in addition to compensating the tribals for the loss of their property and the indignity to which they were evidently subjected to.
If I were in your position, I would issue elaborate guidelines on this to District Collectors and forest officials to prevent recurrence of such unfortunate incidents.
All the best,
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Commissioner for Tribal Welfare (Andhra Pradesh)
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
