A 50-member delegation of tribal leaders, led by former NCP minister and the working president of Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad Madhukar-rao Pichad, met Maharashtra governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao today and demanded that the tribal lands be protected at all costs.
The delegation also demanded that no new castes/ communities be included in the scheduled tribes and allowed to eat into the reservations for the tribal communities.
Former Congress ministers and tribal leaders Shivajirao Moghe, Padmakar Valvi and former deputy speaker of Assembly Vasant Purke (NCP) were also part of the delegation.
Talking to reporters later, they said the farm lands of tribals are protected (against transfer or sale to non-tribals) for long in Maharashtra. The Centre enacted a Constitutional amendment on similar lines and many other states followed the suit.
However, the present BJP-led state government was planning to bring a new policy which would make sale of tribal lands to others easier, they alleged.
"We strongly oppose this. The Constitutional provisions and various rulings of the Supreme Court have directed the Centre and the state governments to safeguard the lands of tribals," Pichad said.
There are pockets of native tribal communities in Mumbai, Thane and surrounding areas where the land prices are high.
Pichad alleged that "there appears to be a conspiracy hatched by builders, money-lenders, corporates and land mafia to usurp the tribal lands.
