To
Shri Vibhu Nayar
Union Secretary (Tribal Affairs)
Dear Shri Nayar,
I refer to a disturbing news report on how the Gujarat Forest Department’s appropriation of forests for “green credits” under the Ministry of Environment’s Green CreditsScheme (GCS) in Dangs district has violated the requirements of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (or “Forest Rights Act or FRA), thereby depriving of the local tribals of their right to enjoy the local forest resources.
The FRA empowers the local Gram Sabhas to have a say in deciding occupational rights of traditional forest dwellers, both individual and community-based, over forests on which they have depended for generations. Evidently, neither the district administration nor the Forest Department had held prior consultation with the local Gram Sabhas before fencing large stretches of forests, precluding tribals” access to forests. This, if it is true, amounts to a gross violation of the FRA.
In addition, Dangs district is a notified Scheduled Area which attracts the provisions of the PESA Act which also empowers the local tribal Gram Sabhas to be involved in decision making in respect of projects and schemes that affect their lives. From that point of view also, appropriating the local forests under the GCS, without consultation with the Gram Sabhas, amounts to violation of yet another Central legislation, namely, PESA.
I am surprised that neither the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry nor its counterpart in the State has chosen to secure compliance with such important protective laws applicable to the tribals! May I appeal to you to intervene and ensure strict enforcement of FRA and PESA in Dangs district so that the tribals’ interests may stand fully protected?
All the best,
Yours sincerely,
EAS Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
