Tree and the tribal in a Bastar story

Tribal communities, with their traditionally high standards of honesty and trust, and inexperience with a monetary economy, have been the...

Tribal communities, with their traditionally high standards of honesty and trust, and inexperience with a monetary economy, have been the easiest victims of outside exploitation. This has impoverished them as well as the forests providing them shelter and livelihood. The see-saw struggle between the exploiters and those trying to protect tribal rights and forests stands out most clearly in the sprawling district of Bastar in Madhya Pradesh, known for its aboriginal tribal communities and thick forests. Recently, the issue has attracted the notice of the Supreme Court and been inquired into by the State Lok Ayukt, Justice Faizanuddin. The documents reveal that powerful officials and politicians are ranged on either side.

The first official report on the struggle emerged in 1955, when Devinder Nath, a young IAS officer, took charge as collector of Bastar. What he found is best described in his own words: 8220;Rapid changes in law gave to these simple people ownership over teak trees, valued at more than a croreof rupees8230;Timber merchants belonging to different parts of the country made their appearance in the villages and purchased timber from the Adivasis for small sums8230; The Adivasis were not paid even a fraction of the value of their teak.8221;

The collector managed, by a series of executive measures, to limit the exploitations. The state government was impressed by his reports and within a year, the legislature adopted the M.P. Protection of Scheduled Tribes Interest in Trees Act. It provided that the timber of specified trees could not be sold without the permission of the collector.

However, by the time another upright collector, B. Rajagopal Naidu, took over Bastar in 1996. He noted that 8220;the situation after 40 years was not different from the one encountered by Devinder Nath. The tribals, the majority of them, got further impoverished over the years. They do not know how to count beyond a hundred rupees.8221; His most serious charge, however, was that while corruption at the time of Devinder Nath waslimited to village-level functionaries, 8220;now it applied right from the divisional commissioner his superior down to the patwari.8221; Among those who 8220;became millionaires overnight8221; were 8220;the M.P. from Bastar, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the President of the Zilla Parishad and the younger brother of the forest minister.8221; The commissioner, he wrote, 8220;enjoyed the protection of the forest minister and the Union Minister who hailed from Bastar.8221;

The clash between the collector and his divisional commissioner became a cause celebre. Both were transferred. But the matter did not end there. A writ petition by S.R. Hiremath, president of the National Committee for Protection of Natural Re-sources and well-known crusader for the rights of forest-dwellers, brought it to the attention of the Supreme Court which asked the Lok Ayukt of Madhya Pradesh to inquire 8220;into the allegations of serious irregularities committed by some persons/officials of the state administration or those having close proximitywith some men in power in the state of Madhya Pradesh in the scandal.8221; Justice Fyzanuddin appointed a three-member committee which confirmed some of the charges and named those involved.

Among those named for securing illegal transfers of land are: 8220;Virendra Netam, who is none else than the younger brother of Arvind Netam, ex-minister of state, Government of India, and Shiv Netam, the present forest minister in the Government of M.P.8221; The names of the Netams appear repeatedly in the report. Also named are 8220;Mahendra Karma then M.P. Rajaram Todem, deputy leader of opposition in M.P. Vidhan Sabha and some influential businessmen.8221; The divisional commissioner who was accused by his collector, B. Rajagopal Naidu, is also named.

Senior state officials seem to have become more responsive to complaints of illegal tree felling in violation of Supreme Court orders. The new divisional commissioner of Bastar, I.D. Khatri, has admonished ten forest department, electricity board and revenue department officersfor negligence. But the Supreme Court has now expressed displeasure with large-scale felling in Damoh district in which the state forest minister is reportedly involved.

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The contest has developed into Supreme Court versus the influential Bastar timber mafia. The future of a quintessential part of tribal India is at stake.