Congress senior leader and former Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday alleged the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are institutionalising the role of RSS-linked organisations in implementing tribal rights laws, claiming the move weakens democratic processes and sidelines Gram Sabhas in Scheduled Areas.
Ramesh said the governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have constituted Task Forces for the implementation of the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) and claimed that Odisha could soon become the third state to adopt a similar mechanism.
According to the Congress leader, these Task Forces undermine the statutory framework created under the two laws passed by Parliament and alter the role envisioned for local self-governance institutions.
He alleged the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which he described as an RSS affiliate, is playing a key role in shaping these mechanisms and influencing implementation of provisions related to Gram Sabhas.
“These Task Forces subvert the basic democratic structure of implementation of these two laws passed by Parliament,” Ramesh said, adding that both PESA and FRA emerged from long-standing people’s movements and were designed to strengthen local decision-making in tribal areas.
Ramesh also claimed that the creation of such Task Forces could have implications for natural resource governance in forest regions, alleging that ecological concerns may be sidelined in favour of commercial interests.
“It is not a coincidence that one impact of the Task Forces will be felt in the exploitation of rich natural resources with little regard to ecological considerations in forest areas by mining companies of whom the most prominent will be the Modani empire," said Ramesh.
The remarks came amid continuing political debate over implementation of tribal rights laws, forest governance and resource management in Scheduled Areas.
