Prime Minister  Manmohan Singh on Friday asked chief ministers to “adequately protect critical wildlife habitats” while implementing the new tribal rights act that extends legal protection to tribals.
“While implementing the act, it should be ensured that adequate protection is provided to critical wildlife habitats as provided for in section 4 of the act,” the Prime Minister said in a letter to all Chief Ministers, which was released here.
After a one year delay in implementation, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 was finally notified on January 1, 2008. The notification came after severe criticisms from Left parties and BJP that demanded immediate implementation of the act. The act and its rules recognise the rights of forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other forest dwellers who have been residing in forests for more than 25 years.
The government and the Left parties hoped the act would end the “historical injustice” done to the forest dwellers. The government was criticised for going slow on the act because of alleged pressures from wildlife conservationists who argued that the act will ring the death knell of tiger and other endangered animals.
“This is a landmark legislation in independent India that seeks to provide rights over land in their occupation to forest-dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing there for generations,” he said.
The states are required to constitute various committees to process the cases and ensure distribution of land rights.