2 weeks ago
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Congress person and erstwhile Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh connected Tuesday (May 26, 2026) wrote backmost to Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, highlighting that the issues helium had flagged astir the non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act successful Great Nicobar Island stay unaddressed.
Mr. Ramesh, who has been penning to Union Ministers astir the alleged violations of procedures successful the clearances granted for the Centre’s ₹92,000 crore Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project, added successful his missive to Mr. Oram that helium should guarantee his Ministry takes a “categorical stand” successful the Calcutta High Court to support the implementation of the Forest Rights Act successful the island. The Ministry has repeatedly told the High Court that it wanted to beryllium dropped arsenic a enactment to the case.
The Congress leader’s connection came aft Mr. Oram replied to his concerns astir the non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act successful diverting wood onshore for the task that involves gathering an planetary transshipment port, an airport, and a tourism-driven township connected Great Nicobar Island. The Minister had argued that the improvement of the land and extortion of tribal interests request not beryllium mutually exclusive and insisted that each tribal rights are being protected.
Ignoring rights of section tribals
Mr. Ramesh said that alternatively of addressing the circumstantial “legal violations” of the FRA that helium had pointed out, the Tribal Affairs Minister’s effect work similar an “attempted justification for deliberately ignoring the rights of section tribal communities guaranteed nether the Forest Rights Act, 2006”.
In his missive earlier this month, the Congress person had emphasised that consent for diverting wood onshore was taken from Gram Sabhas representing settler families and not the Tribal Council representing the Nicobarese and Shompen Scheduled Tribes, who are the radical with an existent assertion nether the FRA implicit the wood land. Further, helium had argued that determination was nary proviso allowing the authorities to get consent of the Shompen assemblage done the A&NI administration-run Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti.
Mr. Ramesh besides cited a video study prepared by anthropologist Prof. Vishvajit Pandya, successful which a subordinate of the Shompen assemblage tin beryllium categorically telling him that they bash not privation their wood lands successful the hills to beryllium encroached upon by the project. “This is arsenic wide and adjacent to a nonstop sentiment from the assemblage that we tin get and needs to beryllium respected,” Mr. Ramesh said.
In his missive to the Minister of Tribal Affairs connected Tuesday, Mr. Ramesh stressed that it was Mr. Oram’s Ministry that had issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the task connected the explicit conditions that each provisions of the FRA are complied with. Mr. Ramesh said, “That process has not been followed.” He besides called for Mr. Oram to guarantee that the Ministry instrumentality a wide basal successful the Calcutta High Court wherever the alleged FRA violations successful Great Nicobar Island are presently being litigated, particularly fixed that the Tribal Affairs Ministry is the nodal Ministry for the law’s implementation.
Ministry’s affidavits
In repeated affidavits to the Calcutta High Court, the Tribal Affairs Ministry has been taking the presumption that it should not beryllium a enactment to the lawsuit due to the fact that the on-ground implementation of the instrumentality remains with the State and U.T. administrations.
“The pendency of the writ petition mentioned by you is not a fetter connected the Ministry of Tribal Affairs but really an accidental to guarantee strict ineligible compliance with the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which would, nary doubt, beryllium appreciated by the judiciary itself,” helium said.
On the arguments made by Mr. Oram astir the Great Nicobar Island project’s value successful protecting India’s strategical interests successful the Indian Ocean, Mr. Ramesh said that helium had already written to the Defence Minister astir imaginable alternatives to the Great Nicobar Island task arsenic it has been conceived, including suggesting expanding the INS Baaz connected Great Nicobar.
