Saturday, Nov 25, 2006
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CPI (M) for passage of Tribal Rights Bill in current session http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/25/stories/2006112505261200.htm
Special Correspondent
Brinda Karat, representatives of forest dwellers meet Manmohan
[- Photo: R.V. Moorthy TAKING UP THEIR CAUSE: CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat with tribal leaders from seven States after meeting the Prime Minister at the Parliament House in New Delhi on Friday.]
NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to get the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005 passed in the current session of Parliament after accommodating the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
"However, we will not support any bill that becomes a tool for the eviction of forest dwellers by keeping 1980 as the cut-off date for the indigenous groups. As it is, making 1980 as the cut-off year is against the national common minimum programme of the United Progressive Alliance,'' the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat told reporters after a meeting with Dr. Singh.
She was accompanied by a delegation of representatives of the forest dwellers from various States.
Ms. Karat said the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the Bill would be tabled and passed in the current session.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) would shortly hold a meeting to finalise the bill, Dr. Singh reportedly told the delegation.
The tribal sub-committee of the CPI (M) has made the passage of the Tribal Rights Bill its priority and will press for its passage in the current session.
"We have been meeting various Ministers and political leaders on the issue because we want the recommendations of the JPC incorporated in the Bill as the Committee has members from all political parties,'' Ms. Karat said.
The JPC had recommended inclusion of non-tribal traditional forest dwellers within the ambit of the proposed legislation, extension of the cut-off date from 1980 to 2005, removal of the ceiling of 2.5 hectares and empowering the Gram Sabhas to decide on the beneficiaries. However, the Government has some reservations on these major recommendations.
Separate bill for SC
Reacting to the possibility of a separate bill for Scheduled Caste forest dwellers, she said this would amount to dividing those living together for centuries.
She said it was unfortunate that the Government thought that no tribals had moved into the forests after 1980.
"There seems to be a mismatch between what is happening in the forests and the Government's understanding of the reality,'' she said.
It was pointed out to the Prime Minister how forest dwellers had been accused, by some interested quarters, of destroying the forests. "This is like accusing us of destroying our own families because the tribals living in the forests are dependent on the forests and cannot survive if the forests do not survive," the representatives said.
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