The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Andhra Pradesh State Committee has demanded that the State government take steps to avoid diversion of funds earmarked for the development of scheduled castes and tribes and ensure that the budgetary allocations were fully spent for their welfare.
CPI (M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu has criticised the government for “neglecting” the two communities which could not achieve development on par with others for want of proper attention. The government's indifference on the development of SCs and STs could be seen from the fact that the chairman and members of the SC/ST Commission were not appointed since past two years.
Mr. Raghavulu was speaking after welcoming the cycle rally launched by the party MLA J. Ranga Reddy which reached the Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member and MP Brinda Karat came down heavily on the Centre, accusing it of issuing an illegal circular that defeated the very spirit of the Forest Rights Act and jeopardised tribals' interests.
Ms. Karat, who is also the central committee member of the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM), pedalled through the narrow by-lanes of Veleru village in Burgampadu mandal on Monday, to express solidarity with the ‘Dalit Chaitanya' cycle yatra taken out by members of the Struggle Committee against Caste Discrimination.
Dharna
She took stock of the living conditions of the Dalits and tribals in and around the village. Later, she also participated in a massive dharna organised by the Girijana Sangham in front of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency office in Bhadrachalam. Earlier, addressing a meeting, she alleged that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests issued the illegal circular on February 8 giving the right to the forest department to declare an area critical wildlife habitat, displacing tribal families without the gram sabha's permission. “It is nothing but a mockery of the Forest Rights Act and serious violation of its provisions,” she said.
“Historical injustices, which have to be addressed, are being compounded by contemporary injustices making the lives of the tribals more pathetic,” she lamented.
Pat to Tripura
“The Act is not being implemented properly, more particularly in Congress- and BJP-ruled States. The rejection rate is much higher than the acceptance rate in respect of the grant of rights over the forestland under the Act. “Tripura is the only State which has implemented the Act in its true spirit.” Ms. Karat alleged that claims involving 5 lakh acres were rejected in Andhra Pradesh alone. Of the total 14 lakh acres of forestland projected under the Act in the State, only claims involving 9 lakh acres of the Vana Samrakshana Samithis (joint forest management groups) were considered giving a raw deal to a majority of individual claimants.
Rahul must take it up
“We ask AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi not to make tourist visits but to ask Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy about the injustices meted out to the Dalits and tribals in the State,” she said. “The Central government is itself responsible for violating the Planning Commission guidelines on tribal sub-plan allocations. Of the 8.2 per cent of the budget to be earmarked for tribal sub-plan, only 3.08 per cent and 4.02 per cent funds were released in the last two budgets There has been a 20,000-crore deficit in the allocation of budget for the tribal sub-plan.” A suggestion to give some amount from these funds to the Maoist-affected areas was totally absurd. “The Central government is pursuing a detrimental policy of dividing the tribal areas into Maoist-affected and non-Maoist affected areas,” she alleged.
(Courtesy The Hindu)
