The issue of more than 10 lakh tribespeople and forest dwellers across the country facing eviction from their homes across India's forests due to the recent Supreme Court directive has to be seen on ‘compassionate’ grounds, Union Minister of Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan has said.
The Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, was in Kochi on Saturday to inaugurate the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology at Puthu Vypeen.
He, however, said that he did not want to comment further on the issue since the order had been given by the Supreme Court. He added that he had not read the judgment and came to know about it only through the media.
In the directive given on February 13, the court rejected more than 12 lakh claims of of forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) who had requested that their rights be restored under the Forest Rights Act.
The Supreme Court also asked more than 15 States – including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana – to apprise it of the action taken by them over the eviction of tribes and forest dwellers whose claim for the forestland have been rejected. Chief Secretaries of these States are required to file affidavits stating whether those against whom the rejection orders were passed have been evicted or not and if not the reasons for the same.
The Minister added that by the year 2022, single use plastics should be eliminated across India. He said that the safe disposal of plastic is crucial, when asked about the recent fire outbreak at the city’s Brahmapuram land fill. It is the responsibility of the State to ensure this and make sure such accidents do not happen.
The Centre would also intervene with appropriate directives to aid this, he added.
Three best countries
India would become one of the three best countries in the world in terms of science and technology advancements by 2030, said Dr. Vardhan while speaking after inaugurating the office complex of the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology.
He also launched the website of the centre.
A commemorative stamp was also released at the function.
S. Sarma, MLA, released the book Taxonomic discoveries from northern Indian ocean by handing over a copy to the Minister
M. Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, M. Sudhakar, director of the centre and others attended.