Coal India violating rights of adivasis, claims Amnesty

The rights of adivasis have been violated by the coal producing companies, said Amnesty India chief Aakar Patel

taru

Taru Bhatia | July 13, 2016 | New Delhi


#coal companies   #adivasis   #Coal India   #Amnesty India   #rights   #parliament  


Amnesty International India has released an investigative report on how mining operations by India's largest coal producing state-owned Coal India Limited has violated the rights of adivasis. 

The report – when land is lost, do we eat coal? – released on Wednesday has traced Coal India subsidiaries in Jharkhand, Odisha and Chattisgarh. It highlights how  authorities and the company has failed to consult adivasi communities and forest dwellers before  ‘grabbing’ their land.
 
“We need to question what development we are talking about, if that doesn't include adivasi and poorest of poor,” said V. Kishore Chandra Deo, former union minister for tribal affairs.
 
The report also underlines the environmental impacts of mines, which seriously affects the lives of the indigenous communities. 
 
The report is not about the UPA government or the NDA government, it is about the rights of adivasis that have been violated by the coal producing companies including state owned Coal India Limited, said Aakar Patel, executive director, Amnesty International India. 
 
"The government plans to nearly double coal production by 2020, and Coal India wants to produce a billion tonnes of coal every year. Yet both the company and central and state governments don't seem to care to speak or listen to vulnerable adivasi communities whose lands are acquired and forests destroyed for coal mining," he added.
 
The organisation shared the report with the central and state governments and the Coal India limited, however, neither of them have responded to it yet, Patel said.
 
The report exposes a pattern of human rights violations in open cast mines run by different Coal India subsidiaries that are South Eastern Coalfields Limited's Kusumunda mine in Chattisgarh, central Coalfields Limited's Tetariakhar mine in Jharkhand and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited's Basundhara-west mine in Odisha. 
 
Patel, while releasing the report said, "We are not against mining…but [against] the irresponsible method with which the coal is extracted."
Aruna Chandrashekhar, a senior researcher of the report with Amnesty International India, said adivasis were left out  of decision making and were not spoken to before the coal companies acquired their land for mining. 
 
Indian companies have breached both Indian and international laws by not respecting human rights, including by carrying out due diligence to ensure that government agencies conduct proper consultation with regard to coal mining operations. This responsibility exists over and above compliance with national laws, Chandrashekhar added. 
 
To make matters worse, in recent years, successive governments have sought to dilute requirements for public hearings for certain categories of mines, putting the rights of local communities at further risks, she said. 
 
Sudha Bharadwaj, a human rights lawyer said, "If state owned companies are doing such human rights violations, imagine what private companies must be doing. Just imagine."
 
She added that we need to question whether we need so many power plants and coal mining at policy level. 
Amnesty International India has submitted various recommendations to the central and state governments. The most important of which is to amend the coal bearing act.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Steps taken to meet higher power demand of April-May

While the average growth of energy requirement in the country for 2023-24 viz-a-viz 2022-23 has been estimated as 4.9%, the months of April and May have been projected as high demand period. During the current year, the peak demand is expected to be around 229 GW during the summer period. The government ha

Millets to make comeback in army ration after half a century

As the UN has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, the Indian Army has steered introduction of millets flour in the rations of soldiers. This landmark decision will ensure troops are supplied with native and traditional grains after over half a century, when these were discontinued in favour

Central Bank Digital Currency has game-changing potential

When discussing digital currency, you might think of one or two well-known varieties. There is the digital representation of currency that you access with mobile and online banking services. This currency is the liability of a commercial bank. There is also cryptocurrency, a digital medium of exchange issu

An Insider’s Account of the Zail Singh Years: The Endgame

The Indian President: An Insider’s Account of the Zail Singh Years By K.C. Singh HarperCollins, 312 pages, Rs.699  

‘My Father Was a Simple Man’: Remembering Gen. Rawat

Bipin: The Man Behind the Uniform By Rachna Bisht Rawat Penguin, 207 pages, Rs 599 On the morning of 8 December 202

A Mind and Heart without Corners

In Love, At Ease: Everyday Spirituality with Pramukh Swami By Yogi Trivedi Penguin Random House, 360 pages, Rs 499 Spirituali

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook    Twitter    Google Plus    Linkedin    Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter