Impacts of Government Policies on Sustenance of Tribal ... - Samata

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Land alienation and violation <strong>of</strong> the LandTransfer Regulation Act, for purposes <strong>of</strong>private industrial activities is going to havea serious impact on the ecological balanceas it would lead to further deforestation bylocal populations as well as the outsiders. InNALCO area, for instance, it was seen that alarge area <strong>of</strong> land (around 10,000 ha)beyond the requirement <strong>of</strong> mining purposeswas acquired. Today most <strong>of</strong> it remainsunutilised and the communities displacedfrom these lands were forced to migrate oroccupy forest lands. In-migration as a result<strong>of</strong> mining has led to occupation <strong>of</strong> a largearea <strong>of</strong> land by outsiders causing pressureon the land as well as the forest. Theseimpacts have to be given the seriousnessthey deserve and further land alienationshould be stopped for such private andindustrial purposes if the Eastern Ghats haveto be protected.Consultation <strong>of</strong> adivasi communitiesthrough the institution <strong>of</strong> Gram Sabhas isbeing completely ignored. The purpose <strong>of</strong>the PESA Act is being negated by thegovernment either by pretentiousconsultations or by completely bypassingthe consultative process. Local communitieshave a right to protect the resources <strong>of</strong> theirregion and also to take decisions over theseresources. Without their participation, itwould be impossible for the state to protectthe natural resources on its own. It was inrecognition <strong>of</strong> this reality that the CFMprocesses were initiated throughout thecountry. <strong>Government</strong> cannot selectivelychoose to ignore or consult but have a moreconsistent and people-friendly approach todevelopment <strong>of</strong> our ecologically fragileregions.The manner in which the EnvironmentProtection Act <strong>of</strong> 1986 is being made amockery <strong>of</strong> through engineered publichearings has to be stopped immediately.This Act along with the PESA andcompliance with the United NationsDeclaration on the Rights <strong>of</strong> IndigenousPeoples and its recognition <strong>of</strong> the right t<strong>of</strong>ree, prior and informed consent have to berespected fully and in the spirit <strong>of</strong> theConstitution.The Forest Conservation Act 1980 cannotbe used as a weapon against the localcommunities for their usufructory rightswhereas its dilution is justified for purposes<strong>of</strong> industrialisation and commercialisation.It is no longer small patches <strong>of</strong> isolated ordegraded forests that are being denotifiedfor mining and other non-forestry activities,but the cumulative effect <strong>of</strong> diverting forestlands for multiple commercial activitiestoday is enormous. This cumulative impacthas to be duly assessed. There is more threatto the forest cover today by large-scaleprojects in these regions than by individualand local communities.The FRA while it has to be effectedimmediately for settling the long pendingrights <strong>of</strong> the forest dwellers, has to besupported by other ecologically sensitiveways <strong>of</strong> enhancing the land utilisation andlivelihoods <strong>of</strong> these communities. Foodsecurity should be an important component<strong>of</strong> this planning along with increasing theincomes. Today planning for land utilisationis erratic and ad hoc. It is important forplanning to give priority for local capacitiesand locally manageable systems <strong>of</strong> land useand income generation than exotic andglobal market-oriented land utilisationkeeping in mind that adivasi communities’vulnerability to external exploitation stillpersists on a huge scale.These legal safeguards are supported by theSamatha Judgment which was fought inthese very lands <strong>of</strong> Ananthagiri. However,the implementation <strong>of</strong> the Judgment hasrequired continuous people’s vigilance andprotest where the natural resources areconstantly under threat by non-forestry andprivate industrial mining activities. TheSupreme Court, in its lengthy discourse <strong>of</strong>the case and the justification <strong>of</strong> upholdingthe Fifth Schedule <strong>of</strong> the Constitution,68
ecognised the traditional land utilisationpatterns and way <strong>of</strong> life <strong>of</strong> the adivasis andthe Constitutional obligation to protect theserights in the interests <strong>of</strong> the ecologicalhealth as well as the social security <strong>of</strong> thisregion. The final test to the survival <strong>of</strong> theEastern Ghats lies in the future prudence <strong>of</strong>the state in respecting this Constitutionalmandate.Protective legal measures like the monopolyrights <strong>of</strong> the GCC over the forest produce inthe state are more a hindrance to theadivasis than a safeguard. For far too longthere has been a demand for GCC to fulfillits role as a support institution with itssupport price and daily supplies than t<strong>of</strong>unction with the current monopolyrestrictions that have only led to misuse <strong>of</strong>the law.Although for administrative purposes, theEastern Ghats are largely divided betweenOrissa, Andhra Pradesh and other states, forecological purposes the economic decisionsin any <strong>of</strong> the states affects the other. Largescaleprojects and displacement in Orissahave been the cause for ecologicaldegeneration in neighbouringVisakhapatnam. Hence, a balance in thebiodiversity <strong>of</strong> the entire region needs to beplanned with this macro- perspective.69
Page 4:
List of Abbreviati
Page 7 and 8:
IntroductionThe Constitution <stron
Page 9 and 10:
Mitra, a community-based organisati
Page 11 and 12:
Table 1: Vegetation types o
Page 13 and 14:
Faunal diversityFaunal records incl
Page 15 and 16:
are typical of hig
Page 17 and 18:
vegetables, fruits, and roots and t
Page 20 and 21:
union territories in the country en
Page 22 and 23:
exploitation in the Scheduled Areas
Page 24 and 25: and more than 10.13 lakh titles hav
Page 26 and 27: A coffee plantatio
Page 28 and 29: capacity building of</stron
Page 30 and 31: Rs. 40/- per kg was obtained; almos
Page 32 and 33: Table 5: Exploration data for bauxi
Page 34 and 35: Adivasi women at the public hearing
Page 36 and 37: division. The coastline is broken a
Page 38 and 39: stream. In 2007 piped water to a ta
Page 40 and 41: Table 7: Land details of</s
Page 42 and 43: improve the soil fertility; finger
Page 44 and 45: lack gram, green gram, ginger, chil
Page 46 and 47: Table 10 : Land area under c<strong
Page 48 and 49: purposes only. Wood from different
Page 50 and 51: Table 13: NTFP collection calendarP
Page 52 and 53: Orangesgrown athomeSome amount <str
Page 54 and 55: Hens are raised for meat and sold f
Page 56 and 57: emaining had worked anywhere betwee
Page 58 and 59: Major findings and discussion• Ag
Page 60 and 61: nutrition with meat from huntingadd
Page 62 and 63: government are oft
Page 64 and 65: Forested hill slopes of</st
Page 66 and 67: supplementing the inadequate housin
Page 68 and 69: Table 15: Some data on child labour
Page 70 and 71: of a range NTFP an
Page 72 and 73: • The environment is facing sever
Page 76 and 77: ReferencesAgarwal, A. and S. Narain
Page 78 and 79: Government Order M
Page 80 and 81: Sudhir, SNV. 2005. Nalco trip fails
Page 82 and 83: Common name Local name Botanical na
Page 84 and 85: Annexure 3: Compensation paid for l
Page 86 and 87: Integrated Tribal Development Autho
Page 88: Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women a
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Impacts of Government Policies on Sustenance of Tribal ... - Samata

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