Ranchi, Dec 3 (IANS) Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh Saturday called for a ban on mining in forest areas.
‘I am against mining in forest areas… tribals living in such areas are neglected,’ said Ramesh at a press conference here.
‘I am also in favour of making Saranda jungle of Jharkhand a ‘No Go zone’. It was earlier a ‘No Go zone’. When I was forest minister, I put several conditions on SAIL for mining in Chiriya mines situated in Saranda jungle. Saranda has precious Sal trees which take a long time to grow,’ he said.
He stressed the need for development along with political activities in Maoist-hit areas of the state to deal with the Maoist menace.
‘Western Jharkhand and southern Chhattisgarh have emerged as liberated zone for the Maoists. In these areas, government machinery do not function properly,’ he said.
Ramesh was on two-day visit to Jharkhand. He visited the Saranda forest, one of the worst Maoist-hit areas of Jharkhand, Friday and kicked off many development works in the area.
Ramesh admitted that in the last 50 years the successive governments in the country have failed to fulfil the constitutional obligation of development in tribal-dominated areas.
‘Around three crore tribal people in Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Chattissgarh and other states have been displaced over the years in name of different projects. Some of the tribals have been displaced many times,’ he added.
