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Journalism of Courage
Hard work has gone into hiding the stripes of the tribal bill, cleared by the cabinet and ready for Parliament now. But the result will still be the same: once enacted, the proposals will effectively end conservation. This is simply because conserving the tiger and protecting tribal rights are separate objectives. So, land allocation for the two should be separate too. No one has successfully challenged the tiger task force8217;s data that show human habitation and wildlife preservation are mutually exclusive. Forests are impossible to police and the money to be made from poachers impossible to turn down. Had this been recognised, the government would have instead worked only on relocation of forest reserve villages. The cost of relocation, experts say, is Rs 10,000 crore. India can easily afford this, especially given what8217;s at stake.
What8217;s on offer, via the bill, is a big administrative mess. Even leaving aside the argument that as far as conservation efforts go temporary land rights are no different from permanent ones 8212; in five years of temporary rights, a reserve forest can be emptied out of prized fauna; remember Sariska 8212; the bill gives local administrations an unenviable, possibly unachievable, job. Since five years of stay will ensure permanent property rights, those living in forest reserves will have little incentive to relocate. The job of persuading them falls on local officials.
