Hands over third defective clearance to Posco
May 02 2011
Posco got its “first” final clearance from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) on December 29, 2009, which came attached with 28 conditions.
The “second” final clearance was received on January 31, 2011, which came attached with “additional” 61 conditions.
The “third” final clearance has been given today (May 2, 2011). The old conditions remain. One new condition is added (Posco to bear the cost of regeneration of an equivalent amount of open, degraded forest land), but it effectively buries the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006.
The project needed two additional final clearances precisely because the project affected people said their forest rights had not been granted – a mandatory provision of the FRA.
Today’s order makes FRA irrelevant.
In his order, Ramesh quotes how the state government has said in its report that (a) the “palli sabha” resolution about non-settlement of FRA is defective on technical grounds – set procedures were not following to hold the meeting and adopt the resolution and (b) that there are no tribals in the area or anyone who can put forward credible claims about living and depending on forests for livelihood for 75 years.
The state government’s report is contrary to the findings of two high-powered committees appointed by Ramesh himself – Meena Gupta committee and Naresh Saxena committee. Both said FRA had not been implemented.
Ramesh overcomes this problem in a novel way. He says he has three options – (i) seek legal opinion, (ii) institute independent inquiry or (iii) repose faith in state government.
He opts for the third, saying: “Faith and trust in what the state government says is an essential pillar of cooperative federation which is why I rejected the second option.” He conveniently forgets that he had sent two inquiry teams earlier.
His rejection of the first option is technical – that two-third of members didn’t sign the palli sabha resolutions, that the sarpanch convened the meetings, instead of the palli sabha and that the resolutions were not part of the book specifically provided for this purpose.
This means, the forest rights issue remains unresolved. Technical flaws don’t mean negation of rights. Secondly, the state government denies forest rights without providing evidence or justification.
It is well known that land records of the area have not been updated after 1947. Most of the people lost their land documents during the supercyclone of 1999, which devastated the entire block - Ersama in Jagatsinghpur district. A few still carry land rights issued to them by the local rulers before 1947. The area once was covered with mangroves that the supercyclone destroyed.
Ramesh accepts the state government’s assertion on face value.
He knows he is on the wrong. Therefore, he goes on to say:
“I want to address the question of whether my decision will weaken the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. To these critics I would answer that it was my personal insistence that in August 2009 the MoEF made adherence to the FRA an essential pre-requisite for allowing diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
“I was under no obligation or pressure to do so except my own commitment to FRA, 2006. The implementation of both the FRA, 2006 and the August 2009 guideline is a learning and an evolving process since we are still in largely unchartered territory. The Ministry of Environment and Forests will continue to upgrade and improve the process to ensure compliance with the law in letter and in spirit.”
This is a dubious argument. Enforcement of the forest rights is a legal and binding requirement. Not a discretionary power of Ramesh or his ministry, as he is suggesting. And his promise is nothing but deception.
Field report by NAC member Naresh Saxena has established how implementation of forest rights by the state governments is defective. Many have been denied their rights because the state governments and the forest departments are less than honest in their approach.
Ramesh has only given more room for the bungling state governments like Orissa to play with people's rights. He seems unaware that the objective of bringing in the FRA was to correct the "historical injustice" to the tribals and other forest dwellers.
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What Anna Hazare wantsHis fast-unto-death may be way to ensure greater say for people in policy-making
April 08 2011
The indefinite fast by 72-year-old social activist Anna Hazare is the beginning of a new phenomenon, which is, insistence of the civil society to have a decisive say in the way laws and policies are framed and finalised in the country. His fight is as much to bring about this shift as to fight corruption.
For quite some time, civil society activists, including some of the National Advisory Council members like Aruna Roy and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal have been asking the government to conduct pre-legislative, pre-policy formulation consultations with people in whose name such policies and laws are made. The government has ignored it.
The immediate provocation for Hazare to go on fast is to force the government to bring in an apex corruption watchdog, the Lokpal. For 42 long years, the government has been dithering on the Lokpal on of some or other pretext. Eight bills introduced in Lok Sabha ever since such a proposal was made by the administrative reforms commission headed by Morarji Desai in 1996 have lapsed. The real reason is, however, the reluctance of the political and administrative executive to subject themselves to a powerful watchdog.
Why Hazare wants redrafting of the Lokpal Bill
The latest draft of the Lokpal Bill is a toothless recommendatory body with no suo motu power to inquire into corruption. It only covers the political executive but not the bureaucracy.
Hazare and his associates want several changes. One, they want Lokpal to have suo motu power to register FIR, investigate and prosecute the suspects. Two, it should be an independent, permanent and constitutional body. Three, appointment of the Lokpal should involve consultation with people and transparent.
Why government is not willing
To begin with, the political parties don’t want a powerful corruption watchdog. Secondly, they don’t want people’s involvement in policy and law formulation as that would, they fear, encroach on their job of legislating laws and making policies.
Why Hazare is upset with GoM on Lokpal
Hazare has questioned the motive of the government by saying that since the GoM includes ministers who have serious corruption charges against them, including Sharad Pawar, he doesn’t expect the GoM to do an honest job.
What he wants
He wants equal representation of the civil society in the committee to redraft the bill. The ruling Congress party has dismissed this suggestion saying that there is no such precedent and it encroaches on the legislative’s domain.
Why the government said his fast is premature and unnecessary
This is ridiculous. Hazare was to go on fast on March 5. He deferred it for a month when the prime minister intervened. He went ahead with fast because he was unsatisfied with the response of the prime minister in his subsequent meeting. Besides, the demand for Lokpal has been going on since 1966. So, his demand is netiher premature nor unnecessary, especially when the UPA II government is beseized with several massive corruption cases - 2G scam, CWG scam, Isro spectrum scam, Adarsh scam and so on.
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Fibbing on Lokpal may not work…now that Baba Ramdev’s fast seems imminent
May 31 2011
The stage is set for another round of battle of wits on corruption. Two months after Anna Hazare’s fast jolted the government into action, Baba Ramdev is starting another round of indefinite fast from June 4 at the Ramlila grounds in New Delhi. And going by the way the government has tackled the Lokpal Bill issue that emerged as the rallying point of the Anna’s fast, it seems more trouble is waiting for the government.
Given the advance notice Baba Ramdev gave about his plan of action, it would have been wiser for the government to have sorted out the Lokpal issue by now. In contrast it has hardened its stance, which would only mean a bigger public support for Baba Ramdev, with Anna and his team joining him in the battle to fight corruption.
Monday’s meeting between the government’s representatives and Anna’s saw the former insisting on keeping the judiciary, prime minister, members of parliament and bureaucrats below the rank of joint secretary out of Lokpal’s jurisdiction. This legitimized Justice Santosh Hegde’s question to the government about who should then be covered by the Lokpal. Interestingly, the government’s own formulation of the Lokpal until now had the prime minister and the members of parliament in the ambit of the Lokpal. So why this dilution now? The only logical answer to that is the old reluctance of the politicians not to subject themselves to any anti-corruption mechanism.
But if such a stand had helped the politicians put the Lokpal off for the past 42 years, it is unlikely to do so now. Anna and his colleagues from the civil society have now threatened to walk out in protest. They know Baba Ramdev’s fast will provide them another platform to whip up public sentiments against corruption beginning with Saturday. It will be the government which will be painted to the wall again.
To be sure, the government is desperate to prevent Baba Ramdev from sitting on fast. They know the down side and hence an attempt to placate him. Last Saturday it announced setting up a committee under the CBDT chairman to examine ways to curb black money. The next day, it commissioned a study by top economists to estimate the extent of black money stashed abroad. On Monday, it announced a Directorate of Criminal Investigation to deal with criminal matters punishable under the direct tax law under the CBDT, which will function in eight high wealth generating cities of the country.
But these measures have failed to impress Baba Ramdev, and rightly so. This government, as indeed the case with previous governments, has the habit of setting up committees to be seen as doing something without actually meaning to do anything to fight corruption or the black money menace. The way the supreme court forced the government to act in cases relating to the 2G spectrum and CWG scams and the Hasan Ali case in recent times is ample evidence of this lack of intent on part of the government.
Baba Ramdev’s fast later this week, therefore, would severely test the government’s mettle and propensity to deceive the public on all matters relating to corruption. The bigger question, however, is if the yoga guru will be able to take the agenda set by Anna Hazare to its logical conclusion.
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