Overview
- Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Tuesday that Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have set up task forces to implement the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
- Ramesh alleged these task forces institutionalise the role of RSS-linked organisations, naming the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram as the driving force behind changes to implementation.
- He argued the task forces bypass statutory roles for Gram Sabhas, which are the local village bodies meant to decide land and forest rights in Scheduled Areas.
- Ramesh warned the shift could ease access for mining and other commercial interests, specifically singling out what he called the 'Modani empire' as a likely beneficiary.
- Coverage notes there is no substantive official response from the state governments or the named organisations in the reports and reminds readers that PESA and FRA were created after long grassroots movements to restore tribal decision-making.