Subject: URGENT: Call To Action - Send an Email to Ministry of Forests (India) re the POSCO project
Dear friends:
The situation in Jagatsingpur, the POSCO project area, is tense and explosive. The Orissa Government has begun the land takeover in direct violation of the Ministry of Environment and Forests directive that no forest land diversion must happen till all the requirements of the Forest Rights Act are met with. The Minister, Jairam Ramesh, himself has conceded in the Parliament that POSCO has flouted norms [1], and the NFRA committee constituted by the MoEF has also confirmed violations of the FRA in the POSCO project area [2]. In spite of these pronouncements, the Government of Orissa forces have entered the Gadkujang gram panchayat on four different occasions over the last week, and demolished several betelvine cultivations. People in the villages are determined to resist this illegal takeovers by the government, and we urge you to support their struggle:
1. Send emails to Jairam Ramesh, (Minister of State for Environment and Forests) and to Dr. P J Dilip Kumar, Director General Forests. Both email addressesare enclosed below. ALSO a sample letter is enclosed below. Alternatively you could use the points in the letter to write your own letter. ALSO, please mark a copy of your emails to:
mzpsginfo@gmail.com. This will help us assess how well the Call For Action is going.
Please email now! It will take just a few minutes.
Jairam Ramesh:
jairam@vsnl.comDr. Dilip Kumar (DG, Forests):
dgfindia@nic.in 2. Call the following numbers and register your protest. Read the draft of the letter below if you wish to have talking points in place before you call. Call Now! It will take you just a minute. Even as you call send out an email to
mzpsginfo@gmail.com with the following subject line "Called JR/DG". Again this will help us assess the success of the Call For Action.
Jairam Ramesh: +91 11 24361727 or 24363958
DG(Forests) Dilip Kumar: +91 11 24361509
3. Do both of the above - send an email to Mr. Jairam Ramesh and make two phone calls one each to the Minister and the DG (Forests). This is the preferred action.
[1]
http://www.facebook.com/l/d7398r_BR2bgrdUMMMgVqjj_7Fw;www.thehindu.com/news/national/article548261.ece [2]
http://www.facebook.com/l/d7398D85B4Yz-yliu0zWVk4UG7w;www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article536677.ece --------------
Sample Letter <Cut/Paste and fill in details (for example: software engineer, Pittsburgh PA) at the very bottom >
August 5th 2010
Jairam Ramesh
Minister for State
Ministry of Environemnt and Forests
Government of India
New Delhi
SUBJECT: Please revoke forest clearance for POSCO/ Stop ongoing land acquisition in the project area
Dear Sir:
I am writing today regarding a matter of utmost urgency – the continuing evictions and take over of land that the Government of Orissa is carrying forward in the three gram panchayats of Gadkujang, Nuagoan and Dinkia to secure land for the POSCO project in direct violation of the MoEF's own explicitly stated position and the recommendations of the (Ashish Kothari) Special Committee appointed by your ministry to look into the FRA violations in the POSCO project area.
The residents of the three gram panchayats have historically lived and built a strong economy in this area. They have cultivated the said land (4004 acres) for over a century and have time and again made visible that they are part of a consistently productive and very remunerative economy. As such therefore compliance with the FRA is crucial if the rights of ordinary Indians has to be protected.
Earlier this year on Jan 8th 2010, your Ministry had issued a clarification stating that the Forest Clearance issued to the POSCO project was conditional, and subject to fulfillment of other requirements including certificates from gram sabhas of the affected area stating that (a) The process of implementation of the Forest Rights Act is complete and all rights have been recognized, and (b) That they consent to the diversion after being informed of the nature and details of the project and rehabilitation project.
To date, the gram sabhas of the area have not given their consent to the POSCO project—on the contrary, Nuagaon, Gobindpur and Dhinkia gram sabhas have categorically opposed the diversion of land for the POSCO project. In addition, the 3-member National Forest Rights Act committee of the Union Ministries of Environment and Forests, and Tribal Affairs, headed by Ashish Kothari which visited the POSCO project area has confirmed numerous FRA violations, and recommended in a press conference that no forest land can be diverted unless the rights of the people dependent on the forest land are settled under the Act.
In light of these facts, continued takeover of land by the Government of Orissa is clearly illegal and violates the rights of Indian Citizens, besides escalating an already tense situation in Orissa. I fail to understand why the MoEF has not yet revoked the Forest Clearance granted to the POSCO project.
As an advocate of human rights, I am concerned that the lives of ordinary citizens seem to matter less and less to the Indian government in comparison to the demands of corporations. I urge you to respond to the crisis immediately and facilitate its fair resolution:
1. By issuing the necessary notifications/letter required to stop the Orissa government from continuing with the illegal land acquisition.
2. By immediately withdrawing the Final Clearance that your ministry granted for the project in spite of the Forest rights Act not being complied with.
Yours sincerely
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