Rahul promises MSP for forest produce, repeal of amendments to Forest Rights Act in tribal-dominated Nandurbar

Mumbai: Describing Adivasis as the “original maliks of the country”, the Congress on Tuesday unveiled six guarantees for the tribal community including the declaration of “scheduled areas” and withdrawal of all amendments of the Narendra Modi-government to Forest Rights Act and the Land Acquisition Act. 

While Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made the announcement in New Delhi, Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi, who is undertaking the final leg of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, spoke about it in Nandurbar, Maharashtra. 

Assuring a caste census would be conducted if Congress came to power, Gandhi said that it would be an 'X-Ray and MRI for India'. He explained that if a district is found to have more than 50 per cent tribal population, it would be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. 

"Once the Congress  comes to power, we will carry out a caste census and an economic and financial survey across the country. It will be a revolutionary step... we will have the exact data of each caste and its representation in the population," he said. 

Addressing an Adivasi Nyay Sammelan, Gandhi questioned the BJP’s use of the term 'vanvasis' instead of 'Adivasis'. “While (the word) 'Adivasi' means those who are owners of this land, 'vanvasis' are those living in the forest," he said, adding that the tribals are owners of "jal-jangal-jameen" (water, forest, land), but, a handful of businessmen were eyeing this 'inheritance'.

"The BJP keeps calling you 'vanvasi' but destroys your forests and gives them to Adanis. Your share in the population is around eight per cent, but do you have any representation in major corporate houses or at senior management levels in these private companies? Out of 90 IAS officers who allocate the country's budget, only one officer is tribal. Of every Rs 100 spent in the budget, the tribal officer can decide about the utilisation of only 10 paise," Gandhi added. 

According to him, a National Mission will be set up for the effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) through a dedicated FRA division with a separate budget, and action plans. 

“We will ensure settlement of all pending FRA claims within 1 year, and establish a process for the review of all rejected claims within 6 months,” he said. 

The Congress leader also assured that all amendments made by the Modi-government to Forest Conservation Act and Land Acquisition Act, which have caused such great distress to Adivasis, will be 'withdrawn'.

“Congress is committed to enact state laws in conformity with the central Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA) to establish 'Village Government’ and 'Autonomous District Government’ as envisaged in PESA,” he said.

“The Special Component Plan for Scheduled Castes and the Tribal Sub Plan which had been introduced by Indira Gandhi in the late 1970s to ensure balanced and adequate share of budgetary resources for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was abolished in 2014 by the Modi Government. The Congress guarantees to revive the Scheduled Caste Plan and the Tribal Sub-plan, and make it enforceable by law, as done by Congress Governments in some states,” he said. 

Gandhi assured that the Congress party’s promise to enact the 'Right to MSP' legislation to give legal status to MSP, will also cover Minor Forest Produce (MFP), if voted to power.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's governments have wrongly rejected thousands of claims under the Forest Rights Act and denied the tribals access to the jungles, Gandhi alleged.

Talking about the things he learnt when the yatra was passing through Gujarat, he said, "Twenty-five per cent of the land acquired by the government in Gujarat belongs to the tribals, Dalits and backward communities. What sort of development is taking place by taking away your land?"

The Modi government at the Centre wrote off the debt of select corporate houses, but no such relief was given to tribals, he claimed.

"The Modi government has written off corporate loans of Rs 16 lakh crore. It is equivalent to the outlay for MNREGA (rural employment scheme) for 24 years. In one year, Rs 65,000 crore are spent on MNREGA," Gandhi said.

The net worth of 20-25 people in the country including the Ambanis and Adanis is equivalent to the collective net worth of 70 crore people, he claimed.

(With PTI inputs)