Call to oppose new draft forest policy

Visakhapatnam: National Convener of Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) and MP Jitendra Chowdhary called upon the political parties, people, NGOs working for the welfare of the adivasis to oppose the NDA government’s new draft on National Forest Policy-2018.

He said that with an intention to handover the forests to the corporate hands, the NDA government made several changes in the National Forest Policy, he criticised the new draft bill on the forest policy.

Andhra Pradesh Girijan Sangham, affiliated to AARM, conducted a seminar on National Forest Policy Draft-2018 at Andhra University on Sunday.
Delivering a keynote address in the seminar, Jitendra Chowdhary said that the ‘Compensatory forest and management national forest policy’ has been drafted with vested interests favouring the corporate sector. The new policy would kill the rights of the Adivasis on the forests.

In fact, the government not even mentioned about the tribals and their rights in the new policy, he alerted. The present National Forest Policy-1988 was introduced protecting the environment and conserving the rights of the tribals. However, the NDA government is introducing the new policy by commercialising the forests.

This is the high time to agitate for Adivasi favourable policy, Chowdhary said. In the name of Ease of Doing Business, the NDA government is leaving aside the environmental challenges and giving permissions for mining indiscriminately, he alerted. Former IAS officer EAS Sarma demanded that the Central and State governments take steps to discuss the National Forest Policy-2018 in all the Grama Sabhas and should obtain permission of the tribals to introduce the draft bill.

The government is deliberately canceling the tribals’ rights on the forest, forest lands and forest produce. The new policy would give more and critical environmental challenges to the nation. With the new policy, the wild-life in the country would be badly affected, Sarma explained.

Bhadrachalam MLA Sunnam Rajaiah said that the rights of the tribals, which have been they are enjoying all these decades would lose with the new policy. 

In the draft, the government dared to introduce new legal guidelines also in Section Number 4.8. The committees whatever set up to conserve the tribal rights are only an eyewash. It is not only the issue of the tribals, but also the new forest policy is very dangerous to the GenNext, Rajaiah said.

Former Director of Tribal Culture Research Organisation VNVK Sastry, AP Girijan Sangham general secretary P Appala Narsa, Telangana Adivasi Girijana Sangham general secretary T Bhimrao and All India Tribal Employees Association O Ramalingam also spoke in the seminar.