Acquistion of Forest Land The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights Act, 2006 in section 4 (5) states that save as otherwise provided, no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or Other Traditional Forest Dweller shall be evicted or removed from the Forest Land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete. As safeguards, Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 has special provisions for scheduled tribes. As per the Act, as far as possible, no land is to be acquired in the scheduled area except as a last resort. In case of acquisition or alienation of any land in the Scheduled Areas, the prior consent of Gram Sabha or the Panchayat, at the appropriate level in the Scheduled Area in the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, as the case may be, are required to be obtained, in all cases of land acquisition in such areas, including acquisition in case of urgency. The Act also lays down procedure and manner of rehabilitation and resettlement. The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, also provides that the Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate level shall be consulted before making the acquisition of land in the Scheduled Areas for development projects and before resettling or rehabilitating persons affected by such projects in the Scheduled Areas; the actual planning and implementation of the projects in the Scheduled Areas shall be coordinated at the State Level. Constitutional provisions under ScheduleV also provide for safeguards against displacement of tribal population because of land acquisitions etc. The Governor of the State which has Scheduled Areas is empowered to prohibit or restrict transfer of land from tribals and regulate the allotment of land to members of the Scheduled Tribes in such cases. The National Monitoring Committee for Rehabilitation and Resettlement has been constituted by the Department of Land Resources for reviewing and monitoring the implementation of rehabilitation and resettlement schemes for national and inter-state projects. In so far as land related issues are concerned, the Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Land Resources (DOLR) is the nodal Ministry at the Centre who plays a monitoring role in the field of land reforms. Land and its management fall under the exclusive legislative and administrative jurisdiction of states as provided under the Constitution of India (Seventh Schedule List ii (State List) Entry No. (18). Therefore, State wise details are not maintained centrally. DOLR has, however, informed that they are in the process of collecting data regarding land acquisition and displacement covering ST families also. Further, the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is the nodal Ministry for implementing irrigation and Water Resources Projects in the country. This information was given by Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. Samir/jk
