Cong urges Scheduled Tribe's body to direct Centre to withdraw new forest conservation rules

New Delhi: The Congress has urged the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to take note of the alleged "violation" of the Forest Rights Act 2006 and ask the Centre to withdraw the new forest conservation rules in public interest.

The party alleged that the new forest conservation rules will lead to disempowerment, dispossession, and displacement of STs and other traditional forest dwellers (OTFDs), and fuel conflict in tribal areas.

In a letter to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) chairperson, Harsh Chouhan, AICC national coordinator SC, ST, OBC and minority departments K Raju said the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the new Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 on June 29, and alleged that these rules have been notified without holding any public consultation with stakeholders.  Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, who has criticised the Centre's move of bringing in the new rules, shared Raju's letter to the NCST on Twitter and slammed the rules as "anti-Adivasi".

The FC Rules 2022 replace the earlier 2003 Forest Conservation Rules and its amendments in 2004, 2014 and 2017, Raju noted in his letter.

The FC Rules 2022 completely "undermine and violate" the Forest Rights Act 2006 by diluting the legal requirement of ensuring FRA compliance and of seeking the consent of Gram Sabha before diverting forest land, Raju said.

The new rules violate the statutory legal mandate to ensure compliance of FRA and the consent of Gram Sabha prior to the diversion of forest land as already established as per the guideline of MoEFCC issued on August 3, 2009, the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Orissa Mining Corporation vs the MoEF & others, 2013 and the FC Rules of 2017, the letter dated July 12 said.

It is important to point out that even the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has earlier written letters to the MoEFCC clarifying the position of law to ensure FRA compliance prior to the approval of forest diversions and also raising objections to the Environment ministry circular in February exempting the requirement of ensuring FRA compliance in stage 1 of granting in-principle approval.

Evidently, the Union government abdicates its constitutional duty to protect the legal rights of STs and OTFDs and forces state governments to commit illegality by asking to seek compliance of FRA after receiving the final approval of the Central Government for diversion of forest land, i.e after the final decision for diverting forest land is already taken and the payment for compensatory afforestation from user agencies has been collected, the letter said.

The notification of FC Rules 2022 will lead to forest diversions across states without settling the rights of STs and OTFDs and without seeking the consent of Gram Sabhas, Raju said.

That will lead further to disempowerment, dispossession, and displacement of STs and OTFDs, and will fuel conflicts in tribal areas, he contended.

"The NCST is urged to take note of the violation of FRA and constitutional and statutory rights of STs due to the notification of FC Rules 2022 and issue directions to the Central Government and the MOEFCC to withdraw the Rules in public interest," he said in his letter.

Raju requested the NCST to direct the MoEFCC to follow the established procedure for public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny before notification of the rules.

He also requested the NCST to direct the MoEFCC and MoTA to ensure strict compliance of the FRA before the approval of forest diversions.