Jharkhand tribal villagers say their consent to operationalise coal block has been forged In January, the Coal Ministry asked companies to show cause why coal blocks allocated to them should not be taken back for not starting production. Given the threat, companies have scrambled to get clearances in the last few months allegedly with the collusion of officials. Tata Steel and Adhunik Power and Natural Resource Ltd. (APNRL) were jointly allotted the 237-ha Ganeshpur block at Jala in Latehar district in May 2009. But the predominant Oraon tribal villagers refused consent for mining until their claims — under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act — were settled. They alleged that the Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee, a left-wing extremist group, and the companies’ middlemen threatened them for opposing the project. The companies have denied the allegations. An August 2009 Environment Ministry circular says claims made under the Act must be settled and the gram sabha must give its consent before forestland is diverted to industry. Till 2013-end, Tata Steel and the APRNL were unable to submit evidence to show that the two requirements had been met. Between 2011 and now, the tribal hamlet passed at least six resolutions, against the project, the latest on February 8, complaining that the sub-divisional-level committee had not yet notified the people of the status of their claims over 456 hectares. The companies had by then started erecting boundary markers. On 15 January, the Inter Ministerial Group on coal blocks gave 61 allottees, including Tata Steel and APRNL, 20 days to show cause why delays in starting production should not lead to de-allocation. Soon after, on January 24, the Environment and Forests Ministry gave environmental clearance for the Ganeshpur block, citing a June 2, 2012 public hearing. On January 26, the Deputy Development Commissioner, acting as ad-hoc District Commissioner, rejected the people’s forest rights claims. Minutes of a meeting say the sub-divisional-level committee inspected the villages and found that the people had given consent for diversion. Earlier, on October 23, 2013, the Inter-Ministerial Group held that the two companies had made no significant progress on development of the block. On December 19, the Forest Advisory Committee gave Stage I forest clearance for the project, citing documentary evidence of a gram sabha meeting on October 1, 2011, which the people say is fake. They showed a letter of February 25, 2013 by the gram pradhan informing district-level officials that the October 1, 2011 resolution submitted by the companies as proof of the people’s consent was false. “We refused to hold a gram sabha meeting on October 1, 2011. We wrote to three circle and district officials asking them not to hold a gram sabha that month as 65 individual forest rights claims were pending,” said Shivratri Oraon, secretary, village forest rights committee, who is shown as one of the 74 villagers who gave consent. Mr. Oraon showed a letter from him and others received by Circle Officer Balumath the same day in which they refused to hold the meeting Tata Steel spokesperson Ashish Kumar and APRNL’s vice-president Sanjay Jain declined comment. “We rejected Jala’s community forest rights claims as the villagers could not give any reason for claims over 456 hectares; there are no grounds for this. I will ask affected villagers to submit documents on the October 2011 resolution again,” District Forest Officer Mamta Priyadarshi said adding she was not aware of the people’s claim.