EDITORIAL
Act
responsible!
Heavens would not
have fallen if PDP had headed the Government in
this State. But they would not have fallen either
if the Congress had come to assume the reigns of
the Government in the State. All the parties who
have been returned to power- jointly, one may
say, because the mandate is not clearly in any
party’s favour-are divided to the unity, of
the State and, Governing it responsibly. That
unity accepts a basic equality of all the peoples
of the State. That equality extends to all
rights, including the right of being the head of
the Government in this State. That unity also
emphasizes that there is not any disability per
se in any region or people, sect or religion. The
only condition is the support of the majority of
members in the legislative assembly. Leadership
issue in the principle, is decided by that
majority of numbers, not the colour of the skin,
the religion of the person, or the language the
leader speaks. Or, is that all a mere theory, and
what really matters is the religion, region,
language and colour?
That is the basic
question that has been thrown up by the
politicking that one saw in the past week. The
State today is not in election mode where the
rhetorical question can be thrown at the people,
without bothering what the answer would be. Today
we have elected members and parties and they have
to address the questions being posed by the
people. They have also to answer the counter
questions that are hidden in the rhetoric even
though. The speaker may not realize it. The
question of healing wounds has been raised. It
would be negation of all the theorems of unity if
it were posited that persons of this region, this
religion, this colour and this creed alone could
provide that healing, that only particular
persons can administer, that only particular
groups must administer. Though the wounds
suffered by Jammu are no less, it is true that
Kashmir Valley has suttered more. But who in the
Kashmir Valley have suffered the most? Who have
been ousted from their homes, who have lost
everything, including the right to vote? Today
the problem is more serious in Kashmir. But
suppose, it were in the district of Kargil, as it
nearly came to be in 1999. Would none other than
a Kargili, and a particular Kargil at that, solve
it, or be allowed to solve it?
We have to clear
our heads of that convoluted thinking. It is this
whole State, all the people who live here, who
have the rights as well as the duties here. Those
duties and rights are equal without any
conditions, without any qualifications of creed
and colour region or religion. This, indeed, is
the basic problem of our secularists. They are
secularists only, so far as asserting the
principle is concerned. Only so long as political
mileage is to be got out of it or private ends
are to be served. Else, they think and act in a
most un-secular manner. Their candidates are
chosen on the basis of religion, their planks are
made on basis of region and their sums are all
done on a most communal calculation. That is the
primary reason why we are not able to resolve
problems. The fortunate part in this is that the
people are not into that communal reckoning
unless they are taken there with ruse and wile.
The recent election was a clear pointer that the
people at large did not vote on communal or
regional. lines.
The people in all
the regions of the State voted in a most equal
manner. For once, the star region-baiter national
conference too came out of the trap. It got its
seats equally from Jammu and the valley. So did
the other parties. Their seats too were won from
all over the State. all its regions. The people
irrespective of the agendas or fractions voted
for good governance, careful administration and a
change of guards in as true a democratic
demonstration as you can get. The planks too were
uniform. As the election process proceeded one
saw almost a uniform call being made to voters,
from the independent Kamah, communist Kulgam, PDP
Bijbihara, Panthers in Udhampur to Congress in
Bani. It is that call that has been voted to
power. But the unfortunate part is that few of
the politicians are free from the
calculations-communal, regional and sectarian.
Those calculations have thwarted the installation
of a mandated Government in the State. They have
also brought the politicians under a cloud of
doubt as to their true motives and convictions,
whether they take all people equal, in rights as
well as potentialities?
As it is, two
Muslims one from Jammu and another from Kashmir
head the two parties that are the main contenders
for the Chief Ministership. Suppose it had been a
Hindu, a Kashmiri Pandit at that, or a Buddhist
as headed one of these factions. Would he/she
have been, in principle, unqualified to head the
Government? If the past week were any guide, that
person would have been thought’ to be
innately ‘disabled’ to head a
Government. That is a very dangerous connotation.
Unfortunately, it is confirmed by many instances
of the past, but one always rationalized that it
was unlikely to be true, that no ‘secular
politician’ would believe in it as a
principle, that the secular assertion was true in
thought, even though it appeared to be otherwise
in practice. Then, the mathematics of numbers
also served to camouflage it. As the numbers got
naked this week, the intents too appear to have
been bared in fang and clam. And, that is a most
perilous trend in the politics of this State. The
theory of innate disabilities’ is
undemocratic. un- secular, unequal. It cannot be,
must not be, made the governing principle in the
State. It has been rejected by the people. It is
the duty of the politicians to uphold that
verdict, and not to sow the seeds of inequality
among the people. All, people here, are equal and
must remain equal in rights as well as
competence. The State, people and democracy, the
creed of equality and secularism are above all
offices, all power, and all considerations.
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Pakistan:
"Military-Mosque" nexus
rejuvenated
By Romeet K WATT
Since
independence in 1947, Paki-stan has
oscillated between civilian and military
rule in an endless series of coup
d’etats, eliminations and regime
firings. Frail political institutions
and, its failing economy has added to its
multi-faceted crisis to make matters
worse. The tribulations are vastly
internal, and the grave job of initiating
remedial measures will also require being
internal. Pakistan’s domestic
problems are a multifaceted coalesces of
political, economic and social concerns,
and the fact that Pakistan has had in
history thorny relationships with two of
its neighbors completes the grim picture.
The well-being of Pakistan’s
political institutions is also shattered
by limitations in its legal system. In
the post September 11 scenario, it is
apparent that Pakistan's running of its
foreign policy is irremovable from its
domestic policy. The intricate
correlation between Islam, Pakistan, and
its people is core to the majority of
these problems.
Pakistan
has recently elected a set of
representatives to the parliament and the
four provincial assemblies after three
years of military rule. This is the Sixth
general election in 17 years. The most
shocking aspect in the whole scheme of
things is the strong emergence of
religious alliance, opposed to the U.S.
presence in the region, in a big way.
Religious parties had never won more than
10 seats or 5 percent of the total votes
in 56 years of Pakistan’s existence.
The results indicate significant
opposition to MusharrafÆs strong support
for the United States as well as his
promise to trample Islamic extremism.
M M A -
which stands for Joint Action Forum in
Pakistan’s state lingo, Urdu - have
made a clean sweep of the provincial
legislature in the North West Frontier
Province, and are likely to govern the
southwestern Baluchistan province.
Created after the collapse of the Taliban
rule in adjoining Afghanistan, MMA is
opposed to Pakistan’s contribution
in the war on terror and desires the
United States to pull out its troops from
Pakistan. It also identifies with Taliban
and censures Musharraf for apprehending
Taliban and Al-Qaeda leaders and handing
them over to American establishment. The
emergence of six religious parties under
the banner of MMA is seen in political
circles as a big setback for
pro-Musharraf, PML (QA), also dubbed as
''King's Party'' in the local media.
However
critiques of Musharraf assert that he has
used his alliance with radical Muslim
clerics to provide legitimacy to his
dictatorship, facilitating the formation
of an influential and destructive
''military-mosque'' nexus. Islam in
Pakistan is highly varied given various
versions and modes of faith. With a
population of approximately 77 percent
Sunni, and 20 percent Shia, majority of
the populace in Pakistani follow the
''Hanafi figh'' or body of laws, and
pursue one of two fundamental schools of
interpretation - the Deobandi, and the
Barelvi. A third group, the
Wahhabi-influenced ''Ahle Hadith,'' does
not accept as true the interpretative
customs of the Hanafi School.
Each of
these three interpretations of Islam has
had its own political face in the given
dispensation to pursue a domestic and
international religio-political agenda of
which the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is the
most prominent exemplar, and forms the
nucleus of the present religious alliance
MMA. The other main radical parties are
Jamiat ul Ulema-I-Islam (JUI); a Deobandi
organisation, and Jamaat al
Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP); a Barelvi
organization. JI is also closely
associated with banned terrorist
organizations, the Hizbul Muzahadeen and
Al Badr. Jamaat al-Dawa (formerly known
as the Dawatul Irshad), and its jihadi
wing, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is the
most well known of the Ahle Hadith
organizations and pursues an
international jihadi agenda recognizing
no frontiers.
In the
post-election scenario, it is imperative
that there be no false illusions about a
''progressive'' democratic institution,
pledged by Musharraf, given the success
of these Jihadi elements who have grown
in strength over a period of time when
the popularity of Musharraf has hit a new
nadir, given his pro-US policies. The
domestic unrest in Pakistan is also
largely attributed to these fundamental
organizations; Deobandi madrassahs are
identified with sectarian violence -
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) and
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Pakistan (LJP), being
the terrorist outfits that fight the
three main Shia militant groups- the
Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan (SMP), the
Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan (TJP), and the
Imamia Students Organization. They are
also involved in a series of attack on
the institutions of Barelvi faith. With
the religious organizations assuming a
dominant role in the political spectrum
in Pakistan, their agenda of transforming
Pakistan into a theocratic state gains
momentum; with unrest becoming the order
of the day.
The
emergence of these organizations in a big
way is largely attributed to the policies
followed by the subsequent rulers of
Pakistan. General Zia-ul Haq gave his
dictatorial rule legitimacy through
Islam. When General Zia-ul-Haq came to
power in 1977, he chose Deobandi mullahs
for benefaction, and since then their
potency has amplified speedily. By
administering an official Zakat
(religious tithe), whereby money was
routinely subtracted from bank balances
and distributed to organizations
associated with predominantly Deobandi or
Ahle Hadith beliefs.
The
critiques of Musharraf charge him of
creating the ''political space'' for the
Islamic religious organizations that now
throws up severe defies to the Pakistani
state and his leadership. The General,
many believe is slowly coming to an
''eyeball-to-eyeball'' stance with the
Jihadis in Pakistan. However another
school of though argues that General
Musharraf has been able to exploit the
tendencies of altercation and
polarization active between the political
parties in Pakistan for his own expands.
The religious parties’ astonishing
show won’t intimidate
Musharraf’s grip on power, but it
could provoke him to at least volte-face
his coalition with Washington’s war
on terror.
General
Musharraf has time and again promised a
''deep rooted'' and ôsustainableö
democratic dispensation, something which
doesn't seem forthcoming given the fact
that the basis - a constitutional
framework - in itself is questionable.
The constitution of August 1973 has
expired in 1985, and what has been in
force since then, constitutional experts
argue, is a ''basic law'' crafted without
the involvement of the people. Z A Bhutto
has the distinction of having
constitution amended as many as seven
times between its promulgation and the
date of his removal from office. During
the Zia-Junejo era, eighth amendment bill
was passed in 1985 affecting as many as
67 articles. The exercise was carried out
to enforce on the nation own particular
and convenient variety of Islam.
Musharraf
in his third year of rule, in 2002,
brought in his own revisions suitable to
his policies, by way of his Legal
Framework Order, gazetted in August
affecting some 30 articles of
constitution. The supporters of the
present military regime argue that this
for done to cross-check the
ôinterruptionö in the democratic
process due to institutional failure
citing two reasons - centralization of
power; and secondly abdication of
responsibility by the legislators.
However political observers point out
that the changes will undermine the
parliamentary system. Analysts also
believe that the countryÆs authoritative
military junta is instituting an
everlasting political role for itself to
undermine the future role of Prime
Minister. The case that the future
Parliament will be able to amend the new
legislation does not have much hope. No
measure implemented by a military
government has been disconcerted by
parliament except on two occasions.
Musharraf
through these amendments, has taken a
leaf out of his predecessors (Iskander
Mirza, Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and
Zia-ul-Huq) books by arming himself with
the power to dissolve parliament and sack
the prime minister should the need arise.
He has also checkmated his two
detractors, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz
Sharif by barring them to contest the
elections. In this endeavor of his, the
judiciary has played an important role by
upholding his legislations thus once
again lending it to serve the constricted
benefit of the military-intelligence
enterprise; national interest assuming
trivial importance.
All these
developments have reduced Pakistan to,
what the western analysts describe, as a
''diminished client'' state depending on
diplomatic, economic, and military
support on the US. The success of Islamic
forces along with a lack of basis for a
true democratic dispensation spells more
trouble for the West. Despite pressure
from US, Pakistan has shown unwillingness
or / and inability to tackle their
illegal political power, and the weakness
of institutions and education, making it
an origin of insecurity creating
instability in south-east Asia.
Musharraf,
Chief of Army Staff, President and Chief
Executive needs to address his domestic
constituency on priority instead of
engaging himself in anti-India rhetoric's
like ''Kashmir runs in our blood.'' It is
also imperative for Mushraff to
understand that US and Pakistan lack
common historical and culturalities, and
the common thread which they share might
ebb with the advent of pro-taliban forces
at the helm of affairs in two provinces
bordering Afghanistan. In the
post-December 13 scenario, by threatening
a nuclear escalation, Islamabad pressed
Washington to veto possible Indian
military action against Pakistan. But
next time should he be unable to rein in
his own jihadi forces or engages his
state in adventurism; it may spell doom
for his own stability as the head of
Pakistan.
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Widening
regional divide in J&K
By O P Modi
"Kunki
yeh sub kutch Kashmir ke liay hei ":
"Because all this is for Kashmir
region", was the reply People's
Democratic Party president Mufti Mohammed
Syeed gave when a correspondent asked him
why he was making Chief Ministership for
PDP conditional in the formation of the
Congress-PDP coalition government?"
Reacting to it a Jammu Statehood Morcha
leader said, "This exposes the mind
set of the Kashmiri leaders".
The just
ended state assembly elections have fully
bared the diverse aspirations of the
people of the three regions of Jammu
& Kashmir state. The elected
representatives who, in the overall
interest of the state, are expected to
shed their regional linkage have adopted
parochial postures in order to secure the
Chief Ministership for their party;
thereby making the regional divide
sharper. There is no doubt that except
for the common hope of restoring peace in
all the regions, the people of Jammu,
Kashmir and Ladakh expect the new
government to redress their grievances
based on three totally different
priorities.
While
logically the Chief Ministership should
go to the Congress party the fear of PDP
leader seems to be that this would end
the 54 years' Kashmiri domination over
Jammu region. One of the major grievances
of the people of Jammu has been that in
these 54 years of independence not once a
Jummuites was made the Chief Minister.
Not to talk of a Hindu from Jammu
becoming the Chief Minister, this time
though the Congress candidate Ghulam Nabi
Azad happens to be basically a Kashmiri
Muslim, PDP is opposing him because he
belongs to Jammu Region's Doda district!
The PDP
leadership ought to consider as to what
impact its opposition to Azad's
candidature is going to have on the minds
of the people of Jammu and Ladakh
regions. The regional divide has widened
by the partisan attitude of the PDP
leaders. After all in the proposed
Congress-PDP coalition the PDP is to get
some of the ministries. How will PDP
ministers be able to enjoy the trust of
the people of Jammu and Ladakh with such
a parochial way of thinking?
The
Congress has 15 MLA's from Jammu region
and 5 from Kashmir. The PDP had fielded
13 candidates for Jammu region; all of
them have lost. In the national context,
therefore, PDP cannot be considered even
a regional party. It can at best be
termed a divisional party representing
Kashmir division only. Mufti's claim for
the Chief Minister's post on the ground
that in this turmoil it is Kashmir valley
that alone counts is untenable as it is
the whole of Jammu & Kashmir that
matters. Not only the valley but the
whole state needs peace and economic
progress.
Though the
Congress party has swept out the BJP and
defeated many of the Jammu Statehood
Morcha candidates in Jammu region, the
demand for a separate state for Jammu and
Union territory for Ladakh has not died
down. Those who are interested in
maintaining the state's unity will have
to rise above the narrow regional bias.
It is naive to believe that with the
spectacular Congress victory in the
region Jammu's grievances can be swept
under the carpet by the new government.
The
Congress party in its election campaign
has played the card of Jammu region's
long standing grievances. It had high
lighted the step motherly treatment by
successive state governments towards it.
Although it does not support the idea of
a separate state for Jammu it has
promised a regional council for Jammu
province.
Securing
the two assembly seats on the plank of a
Union Territory for Ladakh the people of
that region have unquestionably
reaffirmed their long standing demand The
Ladakh Union Territory Front, which came
into existence two months back after
disbanding all the political parties in
the region, has decided not to support
any party in the formation of the state
government. Its two MLA's, Rigzin and
Sonam Wangchuck Narboo, who were elected
unopposed, have stated that as none of
the political parties supported their
Union Territory demand they would not be
helping any party in forming the
government.
The BJP
that has been routed in the elections,
too, had promised a regional council for
Jammu in its manifesto. It committed the
blunder of opposing the demand for
statehood for Jammu by opposing and
supporting the demand in one and the same
breath. In this way the party has lost
its credibility in the eyes of the
electorate. The result is that while in
1996 assembly elections where it was
leading in 33 constituencies and where it
had bagged both the parliamentary
constituencies of Jammu region, all its
candidates but one have lost this time.
The Jammu
statehood Morcha that demonstrated its
strength in one of the biggest rallies
held in Jammu in the recent years, had
put up 11 candidates but was successful
with one only. The Mukti Morcha stalwart
and chief Prof. Virinder Gupta, who had
been campaigning for a separate state for
Jammu for the last ten years, secured
over 17500 votes but could not make it to
the assembly because of in fighting of
BJP and the RSS.
Panther's
Party got 4 assembly seats. The party's
main election plank was a separate state
for Jammu region. Its chief has declared
that he would see that Jammu becomes a
separate state before he ''dies''.
With these
surcharged fissiparous sentiments the
worst is the attitude of the president of
the People's Democratic Party Mufti
Mohammed Syeed over the issue of the
Chief Minister. An amicable settlement
between the two parties, Congress and
PDP, would have been welcomed by the
people of all the three regions. However,
the out burst of the Mufti over the
issue, in a press conference, demanding
the post for PDP was quite disturbing.
Unless the
PDP is willing to part with other two
regions of the state it will have to
change its attitude treating all the
regions impartially and with equal regard
for the sentiments of the people of
Ladakh and Jammu. It is clear that if it
gets the Chief Minister's gadi that will
only strengthen the demand for
trifurcation of the state. The party has
to realise that on account of APHCÆs
allegiance to Pakistan it is hoping
against hope to bring the secessionist
leadership back into the national
mainstream.
Instead of
frittering away their energies in the
futile exercise of pampering the hard
core separatists the newly elected
legislatures should devote their total
attention towards the economic resurgence
of the state. It must be realised that
the cross border terrorism is not going
to end in the foreseeable future. On the
other hand with pro-Taliban and pro
Al-Qaeda forces getting hold of the NWFP
and Baluchistan provincial governments of
Pakistan the terrorist activities may
escalate with renewed vigour. It is
evident that extending of its hand of
friendship to hard core separatist the
PDP will be sending wrong signals to the
gun wielding anti-peace elements in the
state.
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Jharkhand
: Paradise for exploiters
By S K Swalsingh
Notwithstanding
a convenient hideout for the naxalites,
Jharkhand's rich forest resources have
made the extremist-infested state a
paradise for exploiters.
Jharkhand,
the forest land, as the name means,
possesses the glory of rich bio-diversity
in its large notified forest corridor of
23.6 thousand square km out of its 79.71
thousand sq km geographical area, and the
presence of a considerable number of
wildlife species.
The forest
cover, which is 29.6 per cent of the
state's total geographical area, has 26
protected forest divisions spread over
all the 22 districts. The forest area of
11,113 sq km has been regarded as dense
even as 1,882 sq km have been deforested,
according to an official report.
An area of
19.18 thousand sq km in Jharkhand has
been declared as protected forest, while
4,387 sq km is treated as reserved forest
and 3,349 sq km as unclassified forest,
the report says.
But the
problem is that the Maoist Communist
Centre (MCC) and the People's War Group
(PWG) have firmly taken refuge in forests
in Ranchi, Chatra, Hazaribagh, Palamu,
Giridih and Koderma, a senior forest
official says.
The state
with its thick forest cover and hilly
terrain, comes first in the scheme of
extremist outfits operating in the region
affecting developmental works.
State's
forest minister Yamuna Singh says the
Government was determined to save the
forest from illegal felling and
destruction of forests and it would
endeavour to preserve the traditional
culture of the tribals who spend their
livelihood in forests.
With
majority of forest in the state covered
in Singhhum, Palamu, Hazaribagh, Chatra
and Koderma districts, rapid
deforestation and lack of proper forest
management since last many years also
pose a serious challenge to the State's
efforts to maintain its ecological
system, experts say.
According
to official sources, the forest cover in
Jharkhand in 1957 was 38,690 sq km which
came down to 26,561 sq km in 1995, and
the forest cover all over the state was
on a rapid decline since last few years.
The
widening of roads have also led to the
felling of thousands of roadside trees.
There are 86 widening, extension or
improvement projects underway on
different national highways in Jharkhand.
The new railway lines in Jharkhand would
also add to the felling of trees.
The forest
department also loses crores of rupees
due to illegal cutting of forest produce
by timber merchants.
The
villagers living in the forest areas are
also solely dependent on the forest for
their livelihood. Due to rapid increase
in human and cattle population the
pressure on forest and wildlife also keep
increasing, sourcing said.
Jharkhand's
rich metal mineral resources like
bauxite, copper, iron and manganese are
mostly located in jungles in Gumla,
Palamu, Lohardaga and Singbhum districts.
The forest cover of 10.15 thousand
hectares in this region was leased for
mining of these minerals which are being
operated in 21.58 thousand hectares
paving the way for further deforestation,
department sources said.
The
Jharkhand forest could also be divided
into three categories-- tropical moist
deciduous, tropical dry deciduous and
subtropical broadleaved hill forests. Sal
(shorea robusta) is the major forest
species in Jharkhand. There are also,
among others, predominantly, mahua,
karanj, neem and sishal trees giving the
state an ample opportunity for exporting
its forest produces.
It also
produces kendu leaves worth Rs 100 crore
every year sources said.
The
Jharkhand forest also has large varieties
of medicinal plants such as aamla, bel,
used for digestion, bantulsi, used as
cough syrup, bihja, used for controlling
blood sugar, kayum, used in fever and
other ailment.
Preservation
of wildlife resources that increases the
bio-diversity value of the state is also
an integral part of the Jharkhand
forestry.
The state
forest department boasts of 11 wildlife
sanctuaries including two national parks
covering 2,102 sq km forests.
The tiger
reserve forest and Belta National Park in
Palamu, and Udhwa Lake Bird Sanctuary in
Sahebjang are famous.
There is
also a crocodile breeding centre at Muta
off the National Highway-33 and a Wolf
sanctuary at Mahuadanar on Belta-Netrahat
road.
The wild
cats have also a healthy presence in
Jharkhand forest. According to a recent
wildlife census conducted by the state
forest and environment department, there
are 34 tigers and 164 leopards in
Jharkhand jungles.
The
National Park in Hazaribagh is a
rendezvous for the pachyderms.
Jharkhand's Singbhum district was last
year notified as the first elephant
reserve forest in the country.
The 9406
sq km areas in 17 forest divisions in the
state was declared as the elephant
project while the Palamu National Park
was included in the National Tiger
Project in 1995.
In a bid
to re-design the ecological system and
maintain its bio-diversity value, the
Jharkhand Government plans to accelerate
the restoration of plantation of uprooted
forests, clear natural root stocks and
carry out largescale plantations in
degraded lands.
The State
Government in association with the World
Bank and NGOs had formed an ambitious
'Jharkhand Forestry Development Project'
in order to accelerate forest
conservation activities, rehabilitation
of degraded forests and developing
effective mechanism to achieve
sustainable forest growth, says the
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest
(PCCF), J L Srivastav.
The
Government also has several forest
development schemes including
rehabilitation of degraded forest (RDF),
quick growing species plantation (QGS),
roadside-cum-urban forestry, minor forest
produce plantation (MFP), lac
development, and soil conservation and
plantation schemes, sources in the Forest
and Environment Ministry said.
Under the
RDF and QGS programme, the work for
plantation in 24.25 and 3.24 thousand
hectares is also underway. The forest
department has completed the 114.15 km of
roadside plantations, 20.62 thousand of
gabion plantation and permanent nurseries
in 89.88 hectares area while the advance
work for 805 km roadside plantation,
17.66 thousand gabion plantation and
establishment of permanent nurseries in
85.22 hectares are underway under
roadside-cum-urban forestry scheme.
The
department has also 12 lac farms to look
into plantations of lac species in 836
hectares area. Plantations of bamboo and
sisal is also underway in 3.65 thousand
hectares and 106 hectares respectively
under MFP scheme.
There are
also centrally sponsored schemes
including fuelwood and fodder project
(FFP), and integrated afforestation and
eco-development project (IAEP) to conduct
plantation activities.
Protection
of forest wealth and environment was not
possible by efforts of the forest
department alone but by the cooperation
of villagers also, according to Singh.
In order
to ensure eco-management and effectvie
mechanism for achieving sustainable
forest growth the Government has
emphasised on greater participation of
village committees and NGOs, he says.
The
Government, therefore, had formed the
joint forest management committees and
eco-development committees at village
level, he says. Under this system, 90 per
cent of the profit earned from the
forestry would be utilised for
development of villages.
PTI
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