Dear All,

I am pasting a clipping of an advt which appeared in todays TOI (Times of India)
June 7th, 2005. This also mentions where a draft of the Bill can be accessed.

Regards,

Amlan Dutta,
Asst. Programme Officer,
Wild Policy & Enforcement
Wildlife Trust of India,
A - 220, New Friends Colony,
New Delhi.
________________________________________________________________





Government of India

Ministry of Tribal Affairs

Inviting views/suggestions on the draft Scheduled Tribes

(Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005.



The Ministry of Tribal Affairs was mandated to formulate a comprehensive
legislation to redress the historical injustice done to forest dwelling
scheduled tribes on account of non-recognition of their rights over their
ancestral lands and their habitat though they have been residing on such lands
for generations and are inseparable with the ecosystem, including wildlife, and
cannot survive in isolation.



2. Ministry of Tribal Affairs has accordingly prepared a draft Scheduled
Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005 which seeks to recognize and
vest forest rights to such forest dwelling scheduled tribes on forest land and
their habitat, where they are scheduled and where they have been living for
generations. A note indicating the background of the case leading to the
formulation of the afore-cited Bill as also a copy of the draft Bill can be
viewed in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs' web site (www.tribal.nic.in)



3. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs invites the views/comments/suggestions
from the members of the public, the social activists, academicians,
anthropologists, the experts working for the cause of environmental protection
and welfare of tribal people and other stake holders on the proposed legislation
before action to finalise and enact the Bill is taken as per the established
procedure.



4. The views and suggestions on the provisions of the proposed
legislation may be conveyed at the following address, either through E-mail or
by Post, by 10'11 July, 2005 positively:



Shri Rajeev Kumar,

Joint Secretary,

Ministry of Tribal Affair

Room No.722, A-Wing, Shastri Bhavan,

New Delhi-110001.

E-mail Address: rajeevkumar@...






Send instant messages to your online friends http://in.messenger.yahoo.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]