New Delhi: The CPI-M has criticised the Manmohan Singh government for its "inexplicable" delay in notifying a Bill passed last year granting forest rights to tribals.
Party General Secretary Prakash Karat, in a letter to Singh, has said Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill 2006 was an "important achievement" of the UPA government and must to be " weakened or even subverted".
In the letter, Karat said the announcement of the Act without its notification has led to a "serious situation" for tribals as forest officials, who have been responsible for denial of tribal rights, have taken advantage of the delay to evict them from many areas.
“Land cultivated by tribals for decades is being dug up for plantations by the forest department in some states in an obvious attempt to preempt the recognition of the tribal rights on that land. At the same time there are reports of connivance between land mafia and officials to take illegal possession of land. This is a most untenable situation.”
The Bill was supposed to be notified by Juy 31, 2007 but the deadline is now over by six months—“the delay is inexplicable”.
"I request you to urgently intervene on this issue so as to ensure that an important achievement of the UPA government is not weakened or even subverted by the non-notification of the Act," he said.
Comments
0 comment