'India belongs to its people, not a select few': Rahul meets tribal leaders opposing Great Nicobar project

Congress person Rahul Gandhi has met a delegation of tribal leaders from the Great Nicobar Island who are opposing the Great Nicobar project and assured them that helium volition rise their issues successful Parliament and sojourn the islands to spot the world connected the ground.

Sharing a video of the caller interaction, the person of absorption successful the Lok Sabha said improvement indispensable empower people, not erase them.

Also Read | Troubled waters: On the Great Nicobar Project

“India belongs to each its people, not a prime few,” helium asserted successful a station connected Facebook connected Wednesday (March 25, 2026).

“I met a delegation of tribal leaders from Great Nicobar Island, on with leaders of the Adivasi Congress. As I listened to them, 1 happening became instantly clear: their vexation is not conscionable astir a ‘project’. This is astir people, their identity, and their close to unrecorded with dignity connected their ain land,” Mr. Gandhi said.

Also Read: Why has NGT cleared the Nicobar project? | Explained

“They told maine however implicit 800 families volition suffer their onshore to the Great Nicobar Project, including Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups,” helium said.

Communities that person lived successful heavy harmony with quality for generations, protecting the island’s fragile ecosystem agelong earlier immoderate authorities oregon corp showed involvement successful it, Mr. Gandhi said.

Also Read | The Great Nicobar project: Between the oversea and the state

And yet today, they are being pushed to the margins, helium added.

“What struck maine was their clarity. When I asked who benefits, they answered plainly, billionaires similar Adani and Ambani volition instrumentality power of ports, infrastructure, and resources, portion the archetypal inhabitants are near to struggle,” Mr. Gandhi said.

At the aforesaid time, they spoke astir their regular struggles -- deficiency of water, roads, education, and employment, helium said.

Yet decisions astir their aboriginal are being made without decently taking their consent, without owed process, and without listening to their voices, Mr. Gandhi alleged.

“I assured them I volition basal with them, rise this contented successful Parliament, and sojourn the islands to spot the world connected the ground,” helium said.

A six-member peculiar seat of the National Green Tribunal past period disposed of challenges to the Great Nicobar mega infrastructure task and concluded that it recovered nary bully crushed to interfere, arsenic determination were capable safeguards successful the project’s biology clearance.

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi had earlier slammed the task and alleged that the BJP-led Government has made a mockery of ineligible and deliberative processes nether the project.

Terming the Great Nicobar infrastructure task a “planned misadventure”, Sonia Gandhi had said past twelvemonth that it poses an existential information to the island’s indigenous tribal communities and is being insensitively pushed through, making a “mockery of each ineligible and deliberative processes”.

This was countered by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, who had claimed that each clearances were obtained, and defended the task arsenic indispensable for the country’s development.