Full U-turn: Modi govt may scrap required tribal nod to use forest land

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s support for the poorest in the country may be crumbling in front of his unrelenting urge for higher industrial growth. According to a report in the Business Standard, the Modi government is quietly setting the stage to do away with the need for consent from local tribal bodies to cut down forests for industries. The exclusive report in Business Standard says that the idea is to bring about the change without amending the Forest Rights act (2006), which stipulates such an approval from the local tribals. Various ministries are debating means to ensure that the approval for the use forest land for industrial purposes be cleared directly by the Centre. The idea is to do this without trying to pass any contentious amendments to the legislation in Parliament. [caption id=“attachment_1681889” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Villagers walk towards the Mahan forest during a protest against a coal mining project in Singrauli district in Madhya Pradesh. Reuters image[/caption] The environment ministry reportedly took up the issue first and since 31 July there have been multiple meetings in the government. Among the suggestions the government is considering is conducting a general public hearing instead of taking the consent of tribal bodies. Such public hearings don’t allow the tribal bodies to veto projects and only require that the state take people’s concerns in consideration. The government has already reportedly done away with the clause to have public hearings for some projects like expansion of coal mines. The report notes that the UPA government had also tried to dilute the clause in the Forest Rights Act to not require the consent of tribal gram sabhas for some projects, but had faced opposition from the Tribal Affairs Ministry, a problem that the present government is also reportedly facing. The most recent case is that of Vedanta which was supposed to seek the approval of tribal bodies for mining in the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha. The mining giant was unable to secure the consent after which its proposal was rejected by the Union government. The move, while likely to raise the hackles of environmentalists, isn’t likely to find too many opponents among industrialists who have been blaming immovable environmental laws for stalling projects. The Modi government,which has promised to deliver inclusive growth, will have a fine balancing act to do.