Concurring with the State law Department’s view, Advocate General Ashok Mohanty on Friday favoured holding of Gram Sabhas in 12 villages in and around the Niyamgiri Hills spread over Kalahandi and Rayagada districts to decide the fate of the proposed project of mining atop the sacred hills of the primitive tribe Dongaria Kondhs.
The Advocate General submitted his views on the issue to the State SC and ST Development Department.
Notably, the SC and ST Development Department had consulted the Advocate General on the possibility of expanding the purview of Gram Sabhas to decide on bauxite excavation atop the Niyamgiri Hills by the Vedanta Aluminium limited (VAl) after Union Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo asked the State Government to expand the scope of the Grama Sabhas.
The State Government had earlier decided to limit the Gram Sabhas to only 12 villages on the hill slopes, but the decision had drawn flak from the Union Ministry of Tribal affairs (MoTA). The MoTA held that limiting the Gram Sabha proceedings to only 12 villages is not in accordance with the Supreme Court order of April 18 and the directions issued by the Ministry under Section 12 of Forest Right Act (FRA).
"The list of villages where rights of forest dwellers are guaranteed under the FRA or where cultural and religious rights are likely to be affected cannot be arbitrarily decided by the State Government. It is to be decided by the people (Palli Sabha) where claims would be filed through a transparent manner so that no genuine Gram Sabha which has a legitimate claim is left out of the process. This is in line with Para 59 of the apex court judgment," MoTA Secretary Vibha Puri Das had written to the State’s Chief Secretary recently.
The MoTA had pointed out that it had received copies of several claims under the FRA for various rights including religious and cultural rights claimed over the Niyamgiri forests and sacred areas from villages over and above the 12 villages selected by the State Government.
It shows that the Niyamgiri forests are shared by not just 12 villages; many other villages in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts too share religious and cultural rights over Niyamgiri, the MoTA observed.
Referring to Paras 53 and 54 of the Supreme Court judgement, the MoTA’s letter said, "Such observations cannot be interpreted to assess the number of villages that need to be considered for recognition and vesting of claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Right) Act-2006."
In its order, the Supreme Court had directed the State Government to complete Gram Sabhas within three months to get the mandate of the local people regarding the mining project.
The judgment had also called for considering all claims on community, individual, cultural and religious rights of the local inhabitants.
The views of the Gram Sabhas are to be communicated to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). The MoEF, after reviewing the Gram Sabhas' views, is to take a final decision in two months as per the apex court's direction.