States neglecting Forest Rights Act: Deo

Expressing his displeasure over non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act-2008, Union panchayat raj and tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo said no state government in the country, including Andhra Pradesh, is implementing the Act.

Addressing newsmen at New Delhi, on the occasion of completing one year in office, Kishore Chandra Deo said, “We have issued clear directives to state governments asking them not to acquire lands from tribals for industrial purposes without implementing the Forest Rights Act. We have even written a letter to the Union minister for environment and forest in this regard, but still the states do not follow our orders,” he lamented.

He made it clear that his ministry was ready to give funds to states for the medical needs of tribals. Andhra Pradesh, however, did not send any request to avail this facility, he added. The minister ruled out any possibility of releasing funds to village panchayats unless the states conducted polls to civic bodies. The same rule applied even to his home state Andhra Pradesh, where elections to gram panchayats were long pending, Kishore Chandra Deo said.