New Delhi, Aug 3 (PTI) The All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS) staged a protest in Delhi on Wednesday over the new forest conservation rules, alleging these will encroach upon the rights of forest dwellers and tribals.
The AIKMS said several tribal groups from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and Punjab gathered at the Jantar Mantar in the national capital demanding withdrawal of the Forest Conservation Rules, 2022, notification.
Kirti Kisan Union’s Raminder Singh Patiala claimed that with the notification of the rules, forest dwellers and tribals will be “displaced without their consent”.
“The new rules encroach upon the rights of forest dwellers and tribals. This is centralisation of power. The Centre wants to hand over the forest of the tribals to the corporate houses.
“Several tribal groups from various states have come to the national capital to protest against these new rules. They fear that they will be displaced without their consent,” Raminder Singh Patiala told PTI.
He said the Centre should “make changes” in the amendment and “strengthen the rights of the tribal groups” over forests.
“This government is only working for the welfare of the corporate and this amendment is nothing but a step towards displacing the tribal. The Centre should rather strengthen the rights of tribal groups over forests,” he said.
Earlier, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav had said that the new forest conservation rules “do not dilute or infringe upon the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006,” assuaging concerns that the new rules allow cutting of forests without the consent of forest-dwellers.
“The Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022, have been promulgated solely to implement the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980… No rule or provisions of any Act are being diluted. The process has been streamlined for reducing the timelines for arrival at the final decision,” read a note posted by Yadav on Twitter last month. PTI ABU ABU NSD NSD
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