Tribal bodies burn copies of Central Ordinance

Tribal organisations including Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Mahasabha today burnt the copies of the Ordinance moved by the Centre to amend the Land Acqusition act.
Led by Mahasabha, the activists of anti-displacement organizations 'Kolhan-Porahat Visthapan Pratirodhi Advivasi Jansagathan' and 'Icha-Kharkhai Baandh (dam) Virodhi Sangh' set ablaze copies of the ordinance in Chaibasa, the district headquarter of adjoining West Singhbhum district, said Vice-President of Mahasabha, Mukhesh Birua.
Rejecting the Ordinance, Birua said adivasi land was not a paternal property of the government.
Describing the draft as "Black Ordinance for adivasis-moolvasis," he warned that tribals would protest if any move was made by the government to acquire tribal land without the permission of the Gram Sabhas and oppose entry of the government in their areas.

The Ordinance was issued this week after widespread criticism that the law which came into force on January 1, 2014, was flawed and had brought land acquisitions to a grinding halt thus preventing development projects from getting off the ground.
Amending this was one of the key aims of the Narendra Modi government as part of its agenda to boost investment and economic activity in order to upgrade India's infrastructure, generate jobs and revive growth.