Rythu Coolie Sangham of Andhra Pradesh State assistant secretary Dantuluri Varma on Saturday alleged that the Union government had made many amendments to the Forest Conservation Act (1980) in order to benefit the corporate sector which was planning to loot the mineral wealth of the country.
At a meeting held at Parvatipuram, he released a poster of the All India Adivasi Sadassu to be held in Visakhapatnam on September 12, 2023.
He said that the latest report of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) on dilution of forest Acts had exposed the government’s motive behind making the amendments. “Crores of rupees worth mineral wealth will be looted from tribal-dominated Parvatipuram-Manyam district due to the amendments made under the guise of development. We will expose the government’s misdeeds at the Sadassu,” said Mr. Varma.
The association’s State president Simhadri Jhansi had been touring all the districts to highlight the ‘injustice meted out to tribal people’ with the changes made to the Act. Tribal farmers would not have any right over the land in forest areas even after getting pattas from the government, he said, adding several adivasi national leaders, including Shambhu Mahatho, Shanthi Munda, and Prapulla Samantray would attend the Visakhapatnam meeting.
