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A comprehensive Central legislation to undo the historic injustice done to forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes conferring clear assertion of their legal rights on land and other traditional forest rights is on the anvil, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, P R Kyndiah assured the Rajya Sabha today.
The Ministry has prepared a draft “The Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005 providing a legislative frame for recognition of the rights, in consultation with the concerned Ministries, including the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Minister said in a written answer to Mr. Balavant Alias Bal Apte.
The proposed Bill is still a tentative draft Bill and to be finalized as per established procedure taking the views of and comments received from the stakeholders into consideration. The proposed legislation is one of the salient features of the National Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre, Mr. Kyndiah said.
As a result of inadequate recognition of the rights of fores dwelling Scheduled Tribes over land, where they had been living for generations, the threat of eviction still persists. However, in order to safeguard the interests of the tribals and forest dwellers whose disputed claims are yet to be settled, the Ministry of Environment and Forest without prejudice to Supreme Courts order, and as an interim measure, advised the State Government on December 21, 2004 and May 12, 2005 that they should not resort to eviction of tribals and forest dwellers other than ineligible encroachers, till the complete the settlement of such claims.
The State/UT Governments have been advised to exclude such tribals/forest dwellers, other than ineligible encroachers, from the eviction drives. Simultaneously, it has also been clarified that this interim measure does not stop State/UT Governments form evicting the ineligible encroachers from the forest lands.
AVC/LG
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