MP Govt allays Oppn members fears over eviction of tribals

Bhopal, Nov 7 (UNI) Allaying fears of the Opposition members regarding eviction of dalits and tribals from forest land, Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Himmat Kothari today assured the state assembly that no action would be taken in haste and without proper examination of records.

Raising the issue during Question Hour, Mr Vanshmani Prasad Verma (SP) wanted to know from the Forest Minister that how much land of Chhatarpur, Sidhi and undivided Shahdol had been notified in the official gazette.

Dubbing the issue as ''serious'', Mr Verma said a serious problem of eviction of tribals had developed due to dispute between revenue and forest land departments.

Members alleged irregularities in the whole procedure and demanded that the government announce in the state assembly that the people from deprived sections will not be forcefully evicted from forest land.

Admitting that the concern of members was justified, Mr Kothari said the government intended to examine records and take any step only after it became clear whether the concerned land came under forest land or revenue department.

He assured that the records were being updated.

Mr Indrajeet Kumar (Cong) pointed out that the then Congress Government had decided to resolve disputes between forest land and revenue departments immediately.

He said several thousand hectares of land in Madhya Pradesh is under dispute. Besides gardens and farms, several houses were built on these disputed land.

The Congress leader said in a direction in 2004, the government had directed to resolve the problem at the earliest.

CPI(M) member Ramlakhan Sharma noted that poor people get exploited under such circumstances. He pointed out that the notifications of the forest department were also not clear and demanded that all these notifications be brought at one place so that confusion does arise.

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