New Delhi: Asserting that the new forest conservation rules do not dilute or infringe on tribal rights , two Union ministers on Sunday defended the rules and dubbed the Congress criticism as a futile attempt to divert the attention from the fact that NDA's presidential candidate is a tribal woman.
Assuaging concerns that the new rules allow cutting of forests without the consent of forest dwellers, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav took on Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and said he is trying to insinuate a problem where none exists.
"Jairam ji, you are trying to insinuate a problem where none exists. There is no dilution of provisions of FRA as being incorrectly interpreted," he said in response to Ramesh's tweet.
"I am afraid one can't see a point if one decides not to - be it the person writing a report or the person sharing it. Will rest my case at that," he added.
Linking the Congress criticism of the forest conservation rules with the presidential election, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said it is a matter of great misfortune that in last 75 years, the Congress party could never think of having a tribal person as the constitutional head of this country. He said the present government under the leadership of Narendra Modi has nominated a woman from this community. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has nominated Droupadi Murmu as its presidential nominee. "NDA under leadership of Prime Minister Modi has nominated a lady from tribal community as the Presidential Candidate from NDA, the Congress party is trying to mislead the nation by making frivolous and baseless allegations," Munda tweeted.
He further said the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is totally committed for the upliftment of tribal communities and at no point, the provisions of the Forest Rights Act have been diluted.Earlier in the day, Yadav posted a note on his official Twitter handle, rebutting the Congress's allegation that the Modi government was abdicating its responsibility towards protecting tribal rights and diluting the rules for the "ease of snatching forest land".
The ministry notified the Forest Conservation Rules, 2022 under the Forest Conservation Act on June 28 to replace the earlier rules notified in 2003. The Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980 was enacted to help conserve the country's forests.