The Congress has urged the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to take note of the alleged “violation” of the Forest Rights Act 2006 and ask the Centre to withdraw the new forest conservation rules in public interest.
The party alleged that the new forest conservation rules will lead to disempowerment, dispossession, and displacement of STs and other traditional forest dwellers (OTFDs), and fuel conflict in tribal areas.
In a letter to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) chairperson, Harsh Chouhan, AICC national coordinator SC, ST, OBC and minority departments K Raju said the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the new Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 on June 29, and alleged that these rules have been notified without holding any public consultation with stakeholders.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who has criticised the Centre’s move of bringing in the new rules, shared Raju’s letter to the NCST on Twitter and slammed the rules as “anti-Adivasi”. The FC Rules 2022 replace the earlier 2003 Forest Conservation Rules and its amendments in 2004, 2014 and 2017, Raju noted in his letter. The FC Rules 2022 completely “undermine and violate” the Forest Rights Act 2006 by diluting the legal requirement of ensuring FRA compliance and of seeking the consent of Gram Sabha before diverting forest land, Raju said.
“The NCST is urged to take note of the violation of FRA and constitutional and statutory rights of STs due to the notification of FC Rules 2022 and issue directions to the Central Government and the MOEFCC to withdraw the Rules in public interest,” he said in his letter.