Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Forest Bill may torpedo tribal resettlement: VS

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Sept. 12. The Leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, today said the Kerala Forests (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Bill, passed by the State Assembly on August 7, this year, could torpedo the Tribal Resettlement Programme of the Government.

The Bill is now before the Governor for his signature. Mr. Achuthanandan said the loopholes in the Bill would enable many private individuals to recover the forest land the State had taken over under the Ordinance promulgated during the tenure of the LDF Government.

Last month, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had released 7,693 hectares of forest land for the Tribal Resettlement Programme in the State. While releasing the forest land, the Union Ministry had set the condition that the State should take over and ensure the protection of 13,223 hectares of forest land currently outside the control of the Forest Department. The extent specified included 11,037.37 hectares of forest land taken over under the provisions of the Kerala Forests (Vesting and Management of Ecologically Fragile Lands) Ordinance promulgated by the previous LDF Government.

Mr. Achuthanandan said many private parties had already started their efforts to get the forest land taken over under the Ordinance released from the Government's control. Powerful people in the Government were helping them exploit the loopholes in the Bill passed by the State Assembly to replace the Ordinance.

``The Tribal Resettlement Programme will become a casualty if the State fails to hold on to the forests taken over under the Ordinance,'' Mr. Achuthanandan said.

He said he had also written a letter to the Governor pointing out certain legal discrepancies in the Bill. The definition of the term `forests' as given in the Bill was totally inconsistent with the definition given in Central Acts and Supreme Court verdicts. The Opposition members, during the discussion on the Bill in the State Assembly, had warned that this change in definition by itself would help many people wrest back large tracts of forests from the Government's control. But the Government had ignored this warning and, using the brute majority it enjoyed in the Assembly, passed the Bill without incorporating the changes suggested by the Opposition.

Mr. Achuthanandan said he had requested the Governor to send the Bill to the President for his consideration in view of the legal inconsistencies in it. "It has to be examined whether the State Assembly is competent to pass a legislation with provisions that go against the overriding provisions of the Central Acts,'' Mr. Achuthanandan said.

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