Environment Ministry's stand on Forest Rights Act is not "desirable in the interests of peace" in forest areas, the Tribal Affairs Ministry has said. The Ministry has complained to the Home Ministry expressing concern over the "impression" being given by the Environment Ministry that implementation of the Act will hinder green clearance of development projects in forest areas.
Taking a serious note of recent Environment Ministry advisories to the states relaxing certain provisions of the Forest Rights Act, Tribal Affairs Ministry, which is the nodal ministry of the Act, has complained to the Home Ministry that such announcements have conveyed a message that the government is against fair implementation of the law meant for the welfare of the forest dwellers.
"This is not desirable in the interests of peace and governance in forest areas," Tribal Affairs Ministry Secretary Hrusikesh Panda wrote in an implied reference clearly to the Naxalites in a letter sent to his counterpart in the Environment Ministry, Ashok Lavasa.
A copy of the letter was marked to the Home Ministry.
Sources said the Environment Ministry is examining the strongly worded letter shot off by Panda. The Tribal Affairs Ministry has said that a recent Environment Ministry advisory giving the district collector the power to bypass the Act in non-tribal areas by saying forests are 'plantations' "violates the law of the land". "... We do not have any evidence that the FRA process delays projects... If there has been any study or evidence of delay of projects because of the processes under the FRA, this should be brought to the notice of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs," the letter has said.
It said that clearance on major projects takes a long time because of the layers through which such clearance is given and the process of Forest Rights Act can be undergone expeditiously and much before other clearances are obtained.
"Certainly the FRA process will take less time than clearances under Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 and acquisition of land under LARR Act. This (proper implementation) will be the legal way of addressing the problem if any, arising out of the FRA process," the letter has said.
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