Don’t dilute Forest Rights Act, 2006: Congress’ Ahmed Patel

Expressing serious concern over the alleged bid by the BJP-led central government to dilute the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006, Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary, Ahmed Patel, has demanded that FRA should not be diluted even a bit “either in letter or in spirit”.

In a letter sent to Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Jual Onam, Patel has referred to his ministry allowing Maharashtra government to have complete control over forest management and sale of forest produce.

He said that the permission by the tribal ministry resulted in Maharashtra state government going ahead with hiring the services of a private firm for collection and sale of forest produce, thus affecting the tribals adversely.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/dont-dilute-forest-rights-act-2006-congress-ahmed-patel/