Asserting that the Jharkhand assembly polls will be watershed, the Congress on Saturday said this is an election to determine the future wellbeing and continued flourishing of Jharkhand's "jal-jangal-zameen".
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in 2006, the decades-long struggle of India's tribal communities came to an end when the Congress government introduced the historic Forest Rights Act.
This act grants Adivasi and forest-dwelling communities a path to assert their rights over their forest land and its produce, he said, adding that it has been a boon for Jharkhand's forest-dwelling communities.
"Last year, the non-biological PM Modi introduced the Forest Conservation Amendment Act and undid all of this progress. The new Act undermines the Forest Rights Act of 2006, doing away with provisions for the consent of local communities and other statutory requirements for forest clearance in vast areas," Ramesh said.
"The intention, of course, is to