TRIBALS – 2007 - Indian Social Institute

edressal of land disputes, laying of roads in all villages, provision for safe drinking water andelectrification of the villages was the priority under RIAD. Principal Secretary, RIAD, A.K. Tigdi,was present. (The Hindu 4/10/07)Land for tribals: court restrains Gujarat (6)New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday restrained the Gujarat government from issuing new“pattas” or possession letters, vesting ownership rights over forest land in tribals. Those alreadygiven will be subject to further orders. A “Forest Bench,” comprising Chief Justice K.G.Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat and S.H. Kapadia, passed the order after amicus curiaeHarish Salve (acting on a report published by The Hindu on October 3) filed an application thatownership rights over forest land were handed over to 30 tribals by Chief Minister Narendra Modion October 2. The Bench issued notice to the Gujarat government seeking its response to theapplication. Quoting the report, Mr. Salve said the Central Empowered Committee wrote to theState government in this regard. Possession letters were issued without the Centre’s permissionor clearance. The application said that similar documents in favour of 2,200 persons were to bedespatched soon and the total forest land involved was reported to be over 34,000 hectares. TheState government’s action would be in violation of the apex court orders. (The Hindu 6/10/07)Tribals campaign for protecting wildlife (6)Bhubaneswar: Here is a good news for the State Government and non-governmentalorganisations, which have been incessantly organising a number of awareness programmes toraise the level of consciousness among people on conserving forests and its ecosystem on theeve of Wildlife Week Celebrations, as the people living inside two sanctuaries in the State actuallymade a unique beginning this year. Hundreds of villagers residing inside the Sunabeda WildlifeSanctuary in Nuapada district and Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary in Sambalpur district celebratedNuakhai, one of the most important festivals of western Orissa, deep inside the forest and offeredspecial pujas to the wild animals. Nuakhai is one of the occasions when communities get togetherand celebrate the harvest in their respective houses and villages. “However, this time wecelebrated the festival inside the forest. We thought since we depend on forest resources for ourlivelihood and wildlife is an integral part of the forest, people should realise their roles inconservation efforts,” says secretary of Sunabeda Sangharsh Vahini, Duryodhan Majhi. Peoplefrom six gram panchayats such as Sunabeda, Soseng, Sialati, Kermeli, Bharuamunda, andChulabhat congregated at Kermeli to worship nature and symbolically observed Nuakhai,considering the forest and wildlife as their family members. The celebration of Nuakhai wasstarted in September and continued for one month across western Orissa. Similarly, villagersdepending on Badrama forest also assembled at Kureibahal village and participated in thecelebration. Elderly people talked about necessity of conserving forest and wildlife for future.About 30,000 people living in the sanctuaries depend on the forest resources. Earlier policieswere centered on the principle of shifting the people in the fringe areas of forests had alienatedpeople from conservation, said Tushar Das, a researcher working with an NGO Vasundhara.“The gesture on part of villagers is a good beginning. Integration of conservation models with thepopular festivals would go a long way in addressing conservation goals,” Mr. Das said. (TheHindu 6/10/07)Cancel pattas given to tribals: SC to Modi (6)NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 5: When gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi decided to throw thegauntlet at the Central Government, he probably did not know that it was the Supreme Court thathe was defying. In his “civil disobedience movement” on Gandhi Jayanti, Modi handed overownership rights of forest land to 30 tribals. He promised to dispatch documents to the remaining2,204 encroachers soon. On Friday, responding to an interim application filed by Amicus CuriaeHarish Salve, the Supreme Court directed the Gujarat Government to immediately cancel thepattas. They reminded the state that it would be a violation of Supreme Court orders until theGovernment notifies the Tribal Act passed by Parliament in December 2006. The application saidthat there is a procedure laid down for state governments to request regularisation of forest landby applying to the Ministry of Forests and Environment. States like Orissa and Chhatisgarh havefollowed it in the past. Regularisation of encroachments is the biggest reason for reduction in