Harsh Chouhan resigns as NCST chairman eight months before end of term

Harsh Chouhan's resignation comes after a run-in with the environment ministry over the Forest Conservation Rules 2022, which he said violated the Forest Rights Act, 2006

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) Chairman Harsh Chouhan resigned with eight months left for his term to end.

Following his resignation, the tribal rights body is left functioning with a lone member, Ananta Nayak.

Chouhan, a social rights activist who hails from Madhya Pradesh, resigned on June 26. His resignation was accepted by President Droupadi Murmu last week, according to a report in The Economic Times (ET).

He was appointed as the chairman of the NCST in February 2021 for a three-year term.

The resignation follows a run-in with the environment ministry as in October 2022, Chouhan had written to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change red-flagging the new Forest Conservation Rules, 2022. He had said that the rules violated the Forest Rights Act, 2006, by giving primacy to project clearance, according to the ET report.

 

Chouhan had asked the ministry to keep the rules in abeyance and "reinstate, strengthen and strictly monitor" the implementation of Rules 2017 to grant the FRA rights to Scheduled Tribes (STs).

However, in January this year, the environment ministry dismissed the concerns raised by Chouhan.

Chouhan has worked extensively for tribals in Madhya Pradesh and has been associated with Sangh bodies, including the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram.