The tangle over the tiger and his lair

WHAT

do the Bills deal with?

The Tribal Bill wants to correct what it calls ‘‘the historic injustice’’ done to the tribals under British rule by denying them rights to forest land. The Bill wants to give every forest-dwelling family land and associated rights to exploit forest produce etc. It also seeks to give them certain immunities against the various Wildlife and Forest Acts.

The Wildlife (Protection) Act Amendment Bill seeks to constitute a National Tiger Conservation Authority, give Project Tiger statutory status and bring all tiger-bearing forests under its jurisdiction for better conservation. It also has provisions to address the livelihood concerns of the local population outside the core (old growth) forest areas.

WHEN

did they take shape?

The Tribal Bill was initially conceived as the Forest-dweller Bill under the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF). Unhappy with the way it was taking shape under the MoEF, tribal rights activists lobbied to have the Bill rechristened and shifted to the Tribal Affairs Ministry. The Bill’s subsequent draft triggered a tug-of-war between the two ministries in which the PMO had to intervene. The Bill was tabled in Parliament by the Tribal Ministry on December 15, 2005, and was referred to a House panel. The report of the House panel was presented on May 23.

The Wildlife Bill was drafted to implement the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force appointed by the Prime Minister. It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 23, 2005, and was sent to a Standing Committee. The House panel gave its report on March 28 and the modified Bill was approved by the Cabinet on May 9. It was to be tabled in the House on May 17 but was delayed at the last moment.

WHY

the conflict?

Both deal with forests but have different mandates. The Wildlife Bill wants better conservation in the best of India’s forests while taking care of the livelihood concerns of the local population. The Tribal Bill wants to legitimise all human settlements inside forests and initiate development schemes like schools, hospitals and roads on forest land.

The tribal rights activists argue that there can be no conservation by alienating the traditional forest-dwellers — the traditional custodians of the wilderness. They also wanted to shield the forest-dwellers from the highhandedness of the forest staff.

The conservationists point out that India’s shrinking forest cover can’t take the human load as the number of the forest-dwellers have increased manifold by population growth and rampant encroachment. They also claim giving lands and other rights to people will simply invite the land mafia and other interest groups who will plunder our bio-diversity in the name of tribals.

HOW

does politics come into it?

Forget the Amendment Bill, the JPC report has recommendations that can render even the existing Wildlife and Forests Acts meaningless. It wants to give land rights, without any ceiling, to everyone — tribal or non-tribal — settled anywhere inside the forests as on 13 December, 2005. It also wants to give forest dwellers the power to make regulations to protect wildlife and forest, in effect enabling them to twist laws to suit their needs for extracting forest resources.Such radical measures notwithstanding, tribal vote banks will make it difficult, conservationists argue, for politicians to oppose the Bill. Their only hope is that the Cabinet will try and create a middle ground where the basic concerns for conservation will also find space.

WHAT NEXT

The Tribal Ministry will now have to decide which recommendations of the JPC it want to incorporate and redraft the Bill. Then the Bill will go back to the Cabinet for modification and approval before it can be reintroduced in the House. Meanwhile, the Wildlife Act Amendment Bill waits.

There are four possibilities:

• Already cleared by the Cabinet, the Wildlife Act Amendment Bill is tabled early next session and passed. The Tribal Bill can follow with modifications so that it doesn’t contradict the Amendment Bill already passed

• The Cabinet clears the Tribal Bill with modifications prescribed by the JPC. In that case, the Wildlife Act Amendment Bill will have little or no relevance.

• The Cabinet modifies the Tribal Bill before tabling it in the House. Depending on the final shape of the Tribal Bill, the Wildlife Bill will be diluted before it is tabled.

• The Cabinet works on both the Bills simultaneously and reach a middle ground before tabling them.