Perilous retreat: On gram sabhas, tribal land issues

The proposed dilution strikes at the heart of democratic decentralisation and the empowerment of local self-government, a core tenet of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), the Gram Sabha is empowered as the statutory authority to protect the cultural identity and community resources of forest dwellers. Reducing the consent requirement from unanimous to a mere majority fundamentally alters the jurisprudence of tribal rights. It transforms the Gram Sabha from a democratic, constitutional body safeguarding specific inhabitants' rights into a 'corporate stakeholder' where a majority vote can override the fundamental rights of a severely impacted minority (e.g., a village facing direct submergence by a dam). This allows the state to engineer consent by leveraging less-affected villages against those facing displacement, undermining the core principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

This issue highlights a concerning regulatory vacuum and a lack of inter-ministerial coordination. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), the nodal agency for implementing the FRA, has refused to claim jurisdiction over this dilution, citing technicalities regarding the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) rules for forest diversion. This bureaucratic maneuvering allows the Centre and States unchecked power to rewrite rules governing the diversion of forest land for non-forest use, prioritizing macroeconomic goals (like the Teesta-IV energy project) over the statutorily protected rights of marginalized communities. The editorial argues that any changes to environmental rules or legislation must be done openly and democratically, rather than through executive fiat or bureaucratic obfuscation. The state's stance that the consent requirement was never part of the FRA contradicts the spirit of the legislation, which was enacted to undo historical injustices against forest-dwelling communities.

For Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs), land is not merely an economic asset but the foundation of their livelihoods, culture, identity, and political autonomy. The FRA recognizes and vests forest rights and occupation in these communities, aiming to secure their customary collective ownership and protect them from displacement and dispossession. The proposed dilution of the consent clause exacerbates the vulnerability of these communities. Furthermore, the political manipulation of tribal classifications—altering who qualifies as a community member—can be used to split village assemblies and manufacture consent for development projects. The editorial emphasizes that recognizing the social and environmental services provided by ST communities, including their role in meeting India's climate commitments, requires strengthening, not weakening, the powers conferred to them by laws like the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act) and PESA.