Vijoo Krishnan
THE central executive committee of the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch
(AARM) met at Ranchi on November 6-7, 2012. It was in Ranchi that the
process towards the formation of the AARM was set rolling at the
convention on adivasi rights held in 2002. Even as the adivasi
communities have been mobilising for their rights, the attacks on their
rights have also intensified. The formation of the AARM and the meeting
at Ranchi only reinforces the steely resolve of the adivasi community to
organise, build up resistance and fight for their rights. The rally and
public meeting on November 6 where over 3000 adivasis gathered from
different parts of Jharkhand despite inclement weather in many regions
provided further evidence of the tempering of this resolve. The presence
of a large number of adivasi women construction workers in the public
meeting reflected the coordinated work between their trade union and
AARM which is giving a fillip to the struggles of adivasis in the
region.
The CEC meeting attended by thirty comrades from
twelve states, began with introductory remarks by Baju Ban Riyan,
chairman, AARM who noted that the neoliberal policies pursued by the
Congress-led UPA government and many state governments have threatened
adivasi livelihoods and heightened insecurity. Midiam Babu Rao, joint
convenor of AARM who presented the report, mentioned about the abject
deprivation and denial of rights in adivasi areas even after sixty five
years of independence. He pointed to the looting of resources and
indiscriminate land acquisition in tribal areas, deprivation of forest
rights and impact of high food inflation on adivasi people. He also
outlined the struggles launched by the affiliates of AARM in different
parts of India. Brinda Karat spoke on the new amendments to the Rules of
Forest Rights Act, the central government decisions on MFP, illegal
mining, the coal scam, problem of tiger reserves and the situation in
the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD) of Assam. The
meeting deliberated on these and numerous other issues. Prominent among
them were the issue of limitation of LPG cylinders in tribal hostels,
anganwadi centres and the escalation in costs for students, illegal
mining, indiscriminate land acquisition, BPL cards for all tribals,
safeguarding the rights of the tribal people to mineral resources and
their land as well as forests, especially in the context of the denial
of forest rights, illegal land acquisition and the Mines and Minerals
(Development & Regulation) Act. The central executive committee
discussed these issues in detail and decided on the future course of
action.
The report highlighted many issues including:
PLUNDER OF RESOURCES
Adivasi communities are directly affected by coal mining as majority of
coal bearing areas are in Fifth Schedule areas inhabited by a large
number of adivasis. The coal scam unearthed by the report of the CAG
raised many critical issues of the entire process of wrongful
allocations of coal mines to big corporates and companies linked to
political leaders belonging to the Congress and the BJP. During the
period when a majority of these allocations took place, the prime
minister himself was the minister of coal. A high level inquiry must be
held including into the role of the prime minister's office, the wrong
allocations must be scrapped and the money recovered. This corruption at
such a high level calculated to have cost the exchequer over 1.86 lakh
crore rupees could have only occurred because of the basic policy of the
central government to reverse the nationalisation of the coal industry
and to hand over this precious national resource to corporates, domestic
and foreign. AARM strongly opposes privatisation and demands that all
coal should be mined and allocated by Coal India.
However, the
issue goes deeper and includes the rights of adivasis to their land and
livelihood. At present the rights of adivasis are completely ignored.
Coal India itself has a most inhuman policy of forcible eviction of
adivasi and other communities from their land which has been identified
for mining, without any proper plans for consultation, rehabilitation
and resettlement. At present under Coal India R and R policy, jobs will
be given only in those cases where more than two acres of land has been
acquired. Since land holdings of adivasis and dalits may be less than
two acres, they are denied compensatory jobs. Proof of occupation is not
considered sufficient for provision of jobs. The money compensation is
usually pittance. It is shocking that in the richest coal mining areas,
the local communities, large numbers of adivasis are reduced to
destitution, facing displacement, sometimes multiple displacements. AARM
will raise its voice to ensure that the rights of adivasis guaranteed
by the Fifth Schedule and PESAA are guaranteed.
The meeting
decided to hold a round-table conference at Delhi on the Mining Act and
the loot of public resources, problem of illegal mining as well as
tribal rights involving broader sections and organisations working for
tribal rights. Seminars at state and district levels as well as a study
of mining and related issues will precede this conference.
RENEWED ATTACKS
The UPA government has utterly failed to control the price rise of
essential commodities. The rate of food inflation was as high as 12 per
cent in the month of September. The UPA government dealt a serious blow
by hiking the price of diesel by Rs 5 a litre and slashing the subsidy
on gas cylinders reducing the number of subsidised cylinders to only six
in a year. For the rest, the price will be around 1500 rupees per
cylinder. The government while shamelessly making all concessions to
corporates and subsidising them in different forms, has so far refused
to reverse this disastrous anti-people policy. Anganwadis, Mid-day Meal
Schemes and especially adivasi and dalit student hostels will be very
badly affected. The meeting decided to conduct a survey to make an
assessment of the cost escalation for students due to the limitation of
subsidised LPG cylinders and mobilise these sections in adivasi areas
and ST hostels demanding an increase in the allocations and subsidies
while joining the general democratic struggle to force the reversal of
this decision.
The UPA government has refused to universalise
the PDS and is still insisting on a targeted system of APL/BPL on the
basis of fraudulent estimates. The food minister has announced that 10
million tonnes of foodgrains will be released in the open market. This
will only benefit the private traders and not consumers as there is no
control of prices in the open market. The AARM has taken up the issue of
universalisation of the PDS and giving BPL cards to all adivasis and
wherever it has been taken up adivasis have responded and joined the
struggles. This struggle will be further intensified.
The
denial of minimum wages, rampant corruption and discrimination meted out
to adivasis under the MNREGS, the denial of proper health facilities,
housing and basic amenities as well as pre/post-matriculation
fellowships to tribal students, the dismal state of affairs in Ashram
Schools, tribal hostels and such issues were also brought to light by
representatives from different States.
DENIAL OF FOREST RIGHTS
The most recent figures on the implementation of the Forest Rights Act
once again show the utter callousness of most state governments in
implementation of the Act. In reality, the governments at the centre and
most of the states are not recognising adivasi rights under the FRA so
as to facilitate land acquisition in forest areas.
Till
September 30, 2012, at the national level less than 40 per cent of the
claims made under FRA have been accepted. In other words 60 per cent of
claims have been rejected. It is true that the flaw in the Act itself of
including 75 years evidence as a condition to accept the claims of
non-tribal traditional forest dwellers is a critical reason in non-
acceptance of claims of these sections. However going by the ground
level experience, even in the claims by adivasi forest dwellers, the
rejection rate is high. It is significant and noteworthy that the Left
led state of Tripura tops the list having accepted 65 per cent of the
claims. In Tripura when only the applications of adivasis are taken into
account, 98 per cent of them have been accepted. The Congress ruled
states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan have dismal records
of just 51 per cent, 29 per cent and 50 per cent respectively. The BJP
ruled states are even worse with Gujarat at just 20 per cent, Madhya
Pradesh at 36.5 per cent and Chhattisgarh at around 44 per cent. The
latter two states have a substantial adivasi population, so the denial
is all the more reprehensible.
At the national level, in terms
of total numbers, the total number of claims received till September
30, 2012 was 32,31,078 (of which 60,411 were for community rights). Of
these the number of claims accepted and title deeds distributed was
12,72,076 of which only 8348 were for community rights, in other words
just around 13 per cent of the claims for community rights have been
accepted. The rejection of community rights has to be seen as part of
the government policy to hand over the forest areas to so-called
projects including mining, which would be hampered if community rights
were recognised. The ministry has stated that of the total claims, both
individual and community, 86 per cent of the claims have been “disposed
of.” In other words, it has accepted the rejections as being final. It
is clear from the experience, particularly of Maharashtra and of Andhra
Pradesh where concrete interventions on a wide scale have been made by
the Kisan Sabha and AARM that in a large number of cases, the rejections
are totally illegal. AARM will protest against closing the claims as
“disposed” with concrete evidence in the different states and also at
the centre.
The Rules under FRA have been amended by a
notification on September 6, 2012. The meeting noted that the amended
Rules make it more difficult to reject claims on flimsy grounds such as
the person not being present when the verification team reached or an
individual officer rejecting the claim without going through the
recommendation of the Forest Committee etc. But even while the Rules are
amended the same ministry accepts that 86 per cent of the claims are
already disposed of. AARM demands that the rejected claims be reopened.
An important and positive amendment is to permit forest dwellers to
transport MFP by “any appropriate means of transport.” It does away with
the present restriction of “bicycle or handcart” in the Rules. The
amendments also give power to Gram Sabhas to decide the “management plan
for community resources”. This can be used as an effective counter to
the arbitrary decisions of the government sponsored Forest Management
Committees which often deny adivasis their rights.
ISSUE OF MINOR FOREST PRODUCE
The meeting welcomed the declaration of the minister of tribal affairs
in May 2012 that a commission would be set up by January 2013 under the
tribal affairs ministry to ensure a minimum support price (MSP) for MFP.
This has been a long-standing demand for which AARM has been
struggling. However, there are doubts as to the extent of implementation
of this assurance given the earlier experience in this regard.
Earlier the ministry of panchayati raj had set up the Haque Committee
to study the issue of MFP which had submitted its report in May 2011.
The Planning Commission also set up a sub-group to look into this issue
for the Twelfth Five Year Plan which also submitted its report in
September 2011. The sub-group is already on record that the MSP for the
16 minor forest produce items identified by the Haque Committee such as
tendu, bamboo, mahua flowers, mahua seeds, sal leaves, sal seeds, lac,
chironji, wild honey, tamarind etc will cost at least 4000 crores to
5000 crores rupees a year. The sub-group has recommended allocations of
just 2000 crores for the entire period of the Plan, which works out to
just 400 crores a year. Thus even before the finalisation, the amount
being suggested is just a pittance of what is required.
The
issue of a MSP for MFP is urgent and essential. According to the
Planning Commission’s own estimates around 275 million people depend on
MFP earnings. While 20-40 per cent of the income of forest dwellers
depends on MFP, it is estimated that fifty per cent of adivasis are
dependent on MFP for a livelihood. The value of the trade is put at over
6000 crores a year, but the actual gatherers get dismal rates while the
profits are grabbed by middlemen and business companies. AARM decided
to take up these issues and organise a widespread campaign on the demand
for an effective commission with adequate allocations.
COURT CASE ON TIGER RESERVES
The meeting discussed on the hypocritical stand of the central
government on tourism in tiger reserves and the changing stand of the
Supreme Court. This is geared not towards the implementation of existing
legislation like the FRA or the Wildlife Protection Act (amended) but
only to protect the interests of the resort owners and tourist related
big businesses. In July 2012, the Supreme Court banned all tourist
related activity in the entire tiger reserve. In October 2012 in the
same case, the Supreme Court lifted the ban pending the final judgment
and accepted the guidelines for eco-tourism in the tiger reserves as
issued by the central government through the National Tiger Conservation
Authority (NTCA) in June 2011. The government and the Supreme Court
have protected the interests of the tourism industry. But forest
dwellers are being forcibly relocated, being paid a sum of ten lakh
rupees. In some areas because of lack of so-called evidence, even this
compensation is being denied.
The Supreme Court has also so
far not commented on the clauses in the guidelines which state that in
all eco-tourist projects, local communities must be given priority in
employment. The rights of forest dwellers to full access including for
livelihood requirements to the areas must be guaranteed. There can be no
forcible relocation. The provisions of FRA and WLPA regarding
classification, recognition of rights, relocation must be fully
implemented.
LAND ACQUISITION ACT
The Parliamentary
standing committee in its recommendations has mentioned the memorandum
of the AARM in relation to its conclusions in six clauses and accepted
some of the suggestions of the organisation. Significantly, it has
suggested that consultation is not enough; consent is required from Gram
Sabhas. It has also recommended that no central Act should be exempted
from the LARR. It has also accepted our demand that the special
provisions for SCs and STs should be reflected in the main part of the
Bill. It has also recommended that the Bill should not allow for
acquisition or alienation of land in Schedule 5 and 6 areas and if
unavoidable there should be increased compensation. However, on the
issue of mining, including coal mining, the standing committee has
negatively brought it into the definition of ‘public purpose’ as
infrastructure, thus not requiring any consent. This will prove
detrimental to the rights of the adivasis over mineral resources.
Several suggestions made by AARM have been accepted either partially or
substantially by the standing committee. However, in response, the
government in its recent draft of the official Bill retains all the main
obnoxious and anti-tribal provisions. AARM will popularise our
objections and launch struggles to protect adivasi rights.
VIOLENCE IN ASSAM:
The meeting noted with concern the continuing violence in Kokhrajar
district and adjoining areas of the BTAD. The Congress government
utterly failed to intervene in time, leading to the death of around 100
persons, the burning of houses, loot of property and displacement in the
first instance of around 3 lakh people, the bulk of who belong to the
minority communities. Even today there are over 1.5 lakh Muslims in the
relief camps, while majority of the Bodo displaced families have been
able to return home. The developments in Assam point to the danger of
narrow identity politics which subverts the protection given to tribal
communities under the Sixth Schedule of the constitution. AARM rejected
the propaganda that all the Bengali Muslims in the region are illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh. Historical circumstances starting from a
century ago have led to the settlement of different communities,
including Bengali Muslims in the region. While the rights of the Bodo
communities must be protected under the Sixth Schedule, it cannot be by
forcibly driving out other communities. The meeting condemned the effort
of the RSS-BJP as well as right wing Muslim organisations to
communalise the situation. Extremist elements from both communities have
to be fought back and isolated. Those still in the relief camps must be
protected and helped to return to their homes without any conditions.
AARM also demands that the Assam Accord be implemented, the
Indo-Bangladesh border sealed, the National population register must be
speedily updated and the distribution of photo identity cards to all
citizens based on the electoral rolls of 1971.
STRUGGLES BY AARM
The members from different states enumerated the spate of successful
struggles on important issues. In Jharkhand, our struggles ensured that
arrears of around 1.2 lakh rupees was given to adivasi workers in Dumka
district. Successful struggles were held against land acquisition
wherein in Ranchi the acquisition of 256 acres for Housing Board could
be stopped and in Jamtara over 500 acres were returned to adivasis.
Struggles against giving away 5000 acres to Reliance in Hazaribagh and
1100 acres to Electro Steel were launched. The struggles by the Girijana
Sangham in Andhra Pradesh have led to the tribal affairs ministry
cancelling the licenses of Jindal and a Dubai based company for bauxite
mining. The united front of over 140 organisations of SC/STs forced the
government in AP to set up a sub committee to look into implementation
of the sub plan and a special session of the assembly has been agreed
upon. In Bengal even amidst extreme violence and attacks on democratic
functioning, struggles have been launched on issue of forest rights,
food security, ST old age pension, against illegal quarrying and
stone-crushing units, unauthorised contracts to open cast coal mines
etc. Struggles in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh on PDS, corruption in
MNREGS, Odisha struggle for land in Gajapati district wherein a notice
to grant four acres to all adivasis has been issued after a movement
that spread to 300 villages are all very inspiring. The stay on eviction
of 1500 families under the Kuldiha National Park in Balasore district
is also a significant gain. Tamilnadu witnessed huge protests against
eviction of 3000 families in Ambasamudram for a Tiger Sanctuary. There
were protests against the government order banning house-site pattas and
land pattas in Hill areas. The government agreed to provision of 90 per
cent of the value of trees planted in tribal areas to the tribal people
as opposed to the earlier provision that Forest Department will have to
get 40 per cent of the value. Kerala has seen massive mobilisation for
land rights to adivasis and against police atrocities. In Maharashtra
struggles for Forest Rights, on PDS and effective intervention against
diversion of foodgrains by local politicians have taken place. Rajasthan
has witnessed protests in Udaipur against illegal evictions with
thousands participating and launched a campaign against unjust land
acquisition in Dungarpur for railway project as well as against eviction
of adivasis from Kumbalgarh Tiger Reserve. In Assam, the organisation
intervened seeking government intervention to stop the violence in BTAD
region and provide speedy rehabilitation.
Jitender Choudhury,
minister in the LF government gave a detailed report on the policies
towards adivasis in Tripura which was inspiring. In Tripura, the
intervention of the Gana Mukti Parishad and Kisan Sabha as well as the
Left Front government has ensured the per capita fund flow under MNREGS
(wages paid as well as infrastructure created) is as high as Rs 2833.86
in the state while it is as low as Rs 41.16 in MP and Rs 63.90 in
Gujarat. The Left Front government has also strived to develop the land
given under FRA with agro-forestry, horticultural crops, irrigation and
extension of MNREGS under a project to enhance economic viability of
these lands. Pension rights to tribals are guaranteed. All efforts are
on to ensure the overwhelming victory of the Left Front in the
forthcoming assembly election.
Struggles under the aegis of
the AARM and its affiliates are continuing and it is also being
accompanied by education of cadre and organisation building. AARM will
move on to further intensification of struggles and consolidate
organisationally in tribal areas as a fighting organisation of adivasis.
