When the government disregards its own laws: The case of India’s Forest Rights Act
The tribal ministry distancing itself from gram sabha clearance for projects shows how laws to protect marginalised groups are interpreted differently.
Black News 
In August, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs said there was no provision in the landmark Forest Rights Act for clearance from gram sabhas for major infrastructure projects. It was yet another instance of how the tribal affairs ministry has gradually withdrawn from the precedent it had set after the Supreme Court in its verdict in the 2013 Odisha Niyamgiri mining case said it was up to gram sabha to give clearance for the project.
Over the years, the tribal affairs ministry has taken contradictory positions on the issue of forest rights, for instance in the Great Nicobar Island mega infrastructure project. The ministry’s recent remarks were in response to a Parliamentary Standing Committee report on the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited, which was tabled on August 3.
In the report, the committee said that “the requirement of 100% Gram Sabha consent under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 for Forest Clearance has emerged as a critical bottleneck”. The committee recommended that the power ministry hold talks with the tribal affairs ministry and environment ministry on adopting a consent threshold of 70%-75% for large hydropower infrastructure projects of national importance. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited is under the purview of the power ministry.
The tribal affairs ministry told the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation that the...
