congress president rahul gandhi has asked the party’s chief ministers in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to undo changes that previous BJP governments made to the land acquisition law and related regulations.
Gandhi has writing letters asking the chief ministers to ensure that the rights of tribals and forest-dwellers are fully protected under the Forest Rights Act, particularly in an ongoing case before the Supreme Court where the petitioners have asked for eviction of tribals and challenging the validity of the law.
“The Modi government tried to dilute the (land acquisition) law in 2015 by severely curtailing its provisions. It was forced to withdraw these amendments in the face of nationwide protests led by the congress party. However, in a sleight of hand, the BJP government urged the states where it was in power to dilute the law through state laws, rules and practices,” Gandhi has written in separate but similarly worded letters to each of the three state chief ministers.
In another set of letters that focus on the Forest Rights Act, Gandhi told the chief ministers, “My attention was brought to several writ petitions filed by environmental NGOs challenging the constitutional validity of the Forest Rights Act and the legislative competence of the Parliament to enact the same. Given the significance of the case, I request you to ensure competent legal representation for the above-mentioned matter and to review the implementation of the Act.”
“It is equally important to reopen the rejected cases and provide assistance to claimants to secure their rights under FRA. We must honour the people’s mandate by effectively implementing the Forest Rights Act.”