New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) With the environment ministry yet to decide the fate of multi-national Vedanta’s bauxite mining project in the Nyamgiri hills of Orissa, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar Thursday said the government needs to involve the tribes people in the development process.
Speaking at a policy dialogue organised for the rights of the Niyamgiri tribes people, the Rajya Sabha MP said: ‘The tribes need to feel empowered and free which is only possible when the centre involves them in the process of development.’
Britain-based mining giant Vedanta is battling criticism from environmental groups and some shareholders over plans to extract bauxite from the Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district. The tribes people revere the hills as holy.
‘The need is for reforms in the Land Acquisition Act (1894) and a better implementation of PESA (Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act),’ he said.
Talking on the same lines, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, said: ‘The way forward in Niyamgiri is to make the forest dwellers owners of their own produce. The benefit of any capitalist investment is their inherent right.’
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has formed a four-member committee, headed by National Advisory Council member N.C. Saxena, to examine whether provisions of the Forest Rights Act have been complied with by the company.
The committee is slated to submit its report by August-end, after which the ministry will decide on the final approval for the project.
