New Delhi: The Akhil Bharatiya Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram has sought that the chairperson of the high-powered committee constituted under the directions of the Supreme Court in the Aravalli Hills matter extend the deadline by two months for stakeholders to submit their suggestions on defining the Aravalli Hills and Ranges.
The Supreme Court-constituted Aravalli committee has invited representations, suggestions and inputs from people and various stakeholders on matters related to the Aravalli Hills and Ranges.
Formed May 25, the high-powered committee has been tasked with examining matters related to the Aravalli Hills and Ranges and ancillary issues and submit its report to the apex court by August 31.
According to a press note issued by the environment ministry July 21, the committee has invited representations, suggestions and inputs from stakeholders in the NCT of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat, besides environmentalists, mining lease holders and local communities whose livelihoods and wellbeing may be intrinsically linked to the ecosystem and biodiversity of the region.
It said that submissions, supported “to the extent possible” by documentary evidence or verifiable material, must be submitted through email or an official Google form within 21 days of publication of the notice.
The development has come amid concerns about the committee’s neutrality, as it mainly comprises former government officials.
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In a letter written to the committee August 2, Kalyan Ashram joint secretary Vishnu Kant said that, unlike Delhi-NCR and Haryana, lakhs of Janajatis (STs) inhabit the remote areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat, which are protected under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
“A mere 20-day window for submitting the concerns and a few days of field visit by the committee for wide and meaningful consultation is just a formality. So the time should be extended by at least two months for response,” the RSS affiliate said in a press statement shared Saturday.
The organisation demanded that the field visit programme of the committee be published well in advance in regional-language newspapers in Hindi and Gujarati so that the “not-so-high educated” rural Janajati people may come to know of the visits and their purpose.
“The public-elected representatives should be consulted apart from the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) on this major policy issue affecting the STs, and consultation with the NCST is mandatory under Article 338A of the Constitution,” the letter stated.
Kant also said that the format for submitting responses should be simplified and a provision should be made for accepting written suggestions by post.
“It is very difficult even for an educated person to record his response solely on the website in a tight compartmental format,” Kant said in the letter.