Who owns the natural resources? Those who can grab it and put the same to use or those in whose habitat the resources lie? The debate is unresolved since the dawn of human civilization. The greed that the modern capitalism brought and the intensity with which they plundered resources made the native Red Indians in USA to declare two centuries ago, “the earth is our mother, not an enemy to be conquered. The white man treats his mother, the earth and brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered and sold like sheep. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.”
Replace the Red Indians with the Maobadi tribals of Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa and White Men with the greedy owners of corporations in India and the core issue behind the conflicts in the jungle mahal will be apparent. Even India’s mines minister BK Handique has accepted as much when he proposed a windfall tax on the miners though the more appropriate term will be to call it Greed Tax.
These miners have little regard for the resettlement of the people who make out their living from out of the forest land. Nor do they spend for the CSR activities in those areas. Their wealth goes for conspicuous consumption — for buying BMWs and Mercedes or flying machines of different makes. Some even go and donate expensive jewellery to various deities. If such people are taxed and the money so collected is spent for the betterment of the natives, no right thinking person can fault the decision.
Minister Handique deserves praise for spotting the problem and coming out with an enforceable solution. In fact his ministry has placed a well thought out MMDR Bill. It has proposed a 26 per cent ownership clause for the displaced persons in the projects. But the corporations claim that the same would militate against their shareholding structures, turn the business ownership complex. They have a point. Therefore the ministry is now examining how the issue can be resolved. One solution could be what Coal India, the largest coal mining company in the world, has suggested. The Navaratna company proposes to earmark shares for those who give their land for its projects.
This will be in addition to the price paid to the inhabitants. While setting aside of 26 per cent in each project for the land evacuees might seem complicated allotting shares of the parent company according to valuation is not a bad idea. Mine Ministry may discuss with Coal India and reach at a workable solution. The point one must not miss is that in India mineral assets are found mostly in inhabited regions. Even the forest lands sustain different tribes and have been doing so for generations.
Evicting them rudely from their habitats will force them to take up arms against the “incivil” society. A large part of the Maobadi problems arose due to this callous approach by so-called big money aided by the pliable government machinery. Even the finance minister admitted that the problem is one of deprivation not merely that of law and order.
Unfortunately a section of the city dwellers fail to appreciate this. Their media thus splash pictures of bodies of slain villagers tied like animal carcasses and defend the same. Such attitude merely rings the bell for death of human civilization. Luckily India has ministers like Handique to teach sense to such insensitive souls.
Replace the Red Indians with the Maobadi tribals of Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa and White Men with the greedy owners of corporations in India and the core issue behind the conflicts in the jungle mahal will be apparent. Even India’s mines minister BK Handique has accepted as much when he proposed a windfall tax on the miners though the more appropriate term will be to call it Greed Tax.
These miners have little regard for the resettlement of the people who make out their living from out of the forest land. Nor do they spend for the CSR activities in those areas. Their wealth goes for conspicuous consumption — for buying BMWs and Mercedes or flying machines of different makes. Some even go and donate expensive jewellery to various deities. If such people are taxed and the money so collected is spent for the betterment of the natives, no right thinking person can fault the decision.
Minister Handique deserves praise for spotting the problem and coming out with an enforceable solution. In fact his ministry has placed a well thought out MMDR Bill. It has proposed a 26 per cent ownership clause for the displaced persons in the projects. But the corporations claim that the same would militate against their shareholding structures, turn the business ownership complex. They have a point. Therefore the ministry is now examining how the issue can be resolved. One solution could be what Coal India, the largest coal mining company in the world, has suggested. The Navaratna company proposes to earmark shares for those who give their land for its projects.
This will be in addition to the price paid to the inhabitants. While setting aside of 26 per cent in each project for the land evacuees might seem complicated allotting shares of the parent company according to valuation is not a bad idea. Mine Ministry may discuss with Coal India and reach at a workable solution. The point one must not miss is that in India mineral assets are found mostly in inhabited regions. Even the forest lands sustain different tribes and have been doing so for generations.
Evicting them rudely from their habitats will force them to take up arms against the “incivil” society. A large part of the Maobadi problems arose due to this callous approach by so-called big money aided by the pliable government machinery. Even the finance minister admitted that the problem is one of deprivation not merely that of law and order.
Unfortunately a section of the city dwellers fail to appreciate this. Their media thus splash pictures of bodies of slain villagers tied like animal carcasses and defend the same. Such attitude merely rings the bell for death of human civilization. Luckily India has ministers like Handique to teach sense to such insensitive souls.
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