Rahul Gandhi slams BJP over ‘erased' forest rights records in Chhattisgarh
He said, 'In Bastar, 2,788 titles have disappeared and in Rajnandgaon, more than half are gone – across Chhattisgarh, thousands of forest rights records have suddenly vanished.'The Congress leader alleged the BJP was weakening the Forest Rights Act to take away the 'first right' of Adivasis over their land, water, and forests, and vowed to protect those rights.According to The Hindu report, thousands of forest rights titles distributed in at least three districts appear to have disappeared from the records of Chhattisgarh's Tribal Welfare Department over the past 17 months. Data obtained under the Right to Information Act showed that in Bastar district, the number of individual forest rights (IFR) titles dropped from 37,958 in January 2024 to 35,180 by May 2025. In Rajnandgaon, community forest resource rights (CFRR) titles halved from 40 to 20 within a month last year. Bijapur saw a minor reduction from 299 to 297 CFRR titles in April 2024.The Hindu report mentioned that some experts called the reductions an 'anomaly', noting that the Forest Rights Act, 2006 has no provision to withdraw titles once granted, except in specific cases with the consent of gram sabhas. State officials, however, attributed the drop to 'miscommunication' and 'error in reporting' between local and district-level authorities, which they said had been 'corrected'.The FRA recognises and vests rights to use forests to Scheduled Tribes and other forest-dwelling communities. As of May 2025, Chhattisgarh had distributed 4.82 lakh IFR titles and 4,396 CFRR titles across 30 districts where the law is implemented, accounting for over 43% of the forest area under FRA titles in India.- EndsTune InMust Watch
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
12 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Parliament passes Bill to consolidate law relating to ports, facilitate ease of doing business
The Rajya Sabha on Monday (August 18, 2025) passed The Indian Ports Bill, 2025, which seeks to consolidate the law relating to ports, promote integrated port development, facilitate ease of doing business, and ensure optimum utilisation of India's coastline. The Indian Ports Bill 2025, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 12, was introduced in the Upper House on Monday amid noisy protests by the Opposition. Opposition MPs later staged a walkout demanding discussion on electoral rolls revision in Bihar. Replying to the discussion on the Bill, Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the ministry was neglected by the Congress, alleging that in ten years from 2004 to 2014, only one new legislation was brought. On the other hand, he said, the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought in 11 new legislations in the last 11 years. Mr. Sonowal also listed the new legislations related to the ministry brought by the Modi government. "They [Congress] did not have any legislative reform in their mind," he asserted, adding the over 100 years old laws made by the British have become outdated and were not in sync with modern times. Mr. Sonowal said, "If the laws are modern, competitive, effective, business friendly, eco-friendly and people-friendly then only we can take the country forward through this bill. Referring to the Opposition who had staged a walkout, Mr. Sonowal said Congress and their alliance at least should "develop sense of respect to the nation because they are also citizens of the country". They have also a big role to play as Opposition, the minister said, adding the role of Opposition is not only to oppose but they always posses two important qualities of "responsibility and responsiveness". "But in this case, I have seen it. It is missing, very sad," Mr. Sonowal said. The Minister said the Indian Port Bill 2025 has been brought after wider consultations with all stake-holders, all coastal states and users of ports. "This is the power of reforms. This is through which we are going to make India one of the leading maritime nations in the world," Mr. Sonowal asserted. The Minister informed that the Bill is meticulously designed to align with the global best practices. "In line with our international obligation, the Bill empowers the government to direct ports to establish a maritime single window system enabling seamless electronic data exchange and improving the ease of doing business," the Minister said. He informed that the Bill decriminalises certain offences and removes outdated provisions replacing them with modern and relevant provisions, while ushering in more transparency in port tariff. The Bill aims to establish and empower State Maritime Boards for effective management of ports other than major ports besides establishment of the Maritime State Development Council for fostering structured growth and development of the port sector, he said while moving the bill for consideration and passage. The Bill also provides for the management of pollution, disaster, emergencies, security, safety, navigation, and data at ports; ensure compliance with India's obligations under international instruments to which it is a party; take measures for the conservation of ports; and provide for adjudicatory mechanisms for the redressal of port-related disputes. It replaces the outdated provisions of the Indian Ports Act, 1908, with modern and contemporary regulations.
New Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
SIR new weapon for 'vote chori', will protect 'one person, one vote': Rahul
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a "new weapon" for "vote chori" and vowed to protect the "one person, one vote" principle by stopping "vote theft". Gandhi made the remarks in a post on his WhatsApp channel while talking about his meeting with a group of people who had cast their votes in the previous Lok Sabha election but their names were deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR exercise in Bihar. The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha met the group at the launch of his Vote Adhikar Yatra in Bihar's Sasaram on Sunday. In his post in Hindi along with a picture of the meeting, Gandhi said, "The SIR is a new weapon for vote theft. Coincidentally, these people standing with me in this picture are a 'living' proof of this theft." "All of them had cast their votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha election -- but by the time the Bihar Assembly polls came, their identity, their existence were erased from the democracy of India," he said. "Do you know who they are? Raj Mohan Singh (70): Farmer and retired soldier; Umravati Devi (35): Dalit and labourer; Dhanjay Kumar Bind (30): Backward class and labourer; Sita Devi (45): Woman and former MGNREGA labourer; Raju Devi (55): Backward class and labourer; Mohmuddin Ansari (52): Minority and labourer," he said. The "collusion" of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission (EC) is punishing them for being "Bahujan" and poor -- "even our soldiers were not spared" -- Gandhi said. Neither will they have a vote nor identity or rights, he added. "Due to social discrimination and economic conditions, they are unable to fight against the conspiracy of the system. We stand here with them to protect the most basic right of 'one person, one vote'," the Congress leader asserted. This is a question of rights and of everyone's participation in a democracy, he said, adding that "we will not let it end under any circumstances". Later, in Aurangabad, Gandhi met another set of people who had voted in earlier elections but their names were deleted from the new draft voter list.
Time of India
27 minutes ago
- Time of India
Seized asset, investment documents after raids against TN minister Periyasamy, family: ED
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has seized documents related to properties and investments following recent raids against Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader I Periyasamy and his federal probe agency had launched searches in Chennai and Dindigul on August 16 against the minister for rural development and panchayat raj, his MLA son I P Senthil Kumar, daughter Indra and some companies allegedly linked to 72, represents the Athoor assembly seat in Dindigul while his son Senthil Kumar is an MLA from the Palani search action resulted in "seizure" of documents relating to properties/investments from the residences of Senthil Kumar, Indra and the office premises of Irulappa Mills India , in which Periyasamy and his younger son P Prabhu are the directors, the ED said in a search team also found certain "paper" (dummy) companies being operated from the premises of Irulappa Mills India, it claimed."The accounts of the said companies are being verified. The digital devices seized are also being analysed," the statement money laundering investigation stems from a disproportionate assets case registered by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) against Periyasamy and his ED said the offences invoked in the chargesheet (filed by DVAC) are scheduled offences under the to the chargesheet filed by DVAC, Periyasamy and his family were "in possession of" disproportionate assets to the tune of about Rs 2 is alleged in the chargesheet that Periyasamy generated the "disproportionate" assets when he was the minister for revenue and prisons, the ED said.A special court in Dindigul had discharged Periyasamy and his family. However, on appeal by the DVAC, the Madras High Court in April set aside the discharge order and directed the special court to conduct a trial and complete it within six ED said, however, the Supreme Court has stayed the trial before the special court during a hearing held on ruling DMK has strongly defended Periyasamy, saying the ED action was an attempt to divert attention from " vote chori ", a term coined by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over alleged electoral fraud in the 2024 elections that the BJP-led NDA ED statement said further investigation in the case was "under progress".
