MP govt allays Oppn members fears over eviction of tribals

Bhopal, Nov 7 (UNI) Putting to rest fears of Opposition members regarding eviction of Dalits and tribals from the 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) sought to know from Mr Kothari about 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 major problem of eviction of tribals had developed due to the dispute between revenue and forest land departments.

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

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

He assured the records were being updated.

Mr Indrajeet Kumar (Cong) pointed out that the then Congress government had decided to resolve disputes between the 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 to avert confusion.

UNI SD-PS HS HT1542