Various Dalit organisations under Kerala Dalit Maha Sabha (KDMS) have strongly come in support of the implementation of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) prepared by Madhav Gadgil. At a meeting in Thodupuzha, they criticised the revised report prepared by Dr. Kasturirangan.
A resolution adopted at the meeting demanded immediate implementation of the Gadgil report as ‘it was farmer-friendly’ and ‘contains many good suggestions for a long term plan’, to help the people at the grassroots. KDMS state secretary K. M. Babu said that Kasturirangan committee report diluted many ‘good suggestions made by Gagdil committee’.
The opposition made against the implementation of the Gadgil report is to protect the interest of the encroachers and quarry lobby, he said.
“Those who are opposing the report are doing it to support the lobbies at the cost of interest of the farmers,” he said.
The implementation of the WGEEP prepared by Mr. Gadgil will hamper the agenda of the forces that work to evict tribals and dalits from their lands and it was why its implementation was opposed by the land lobby, he said.
The implementation of the report will help in protecting the agricultural sector in Idukki and Waynad districts, he said. A genuine farmer will never object to the implementation of the report, he added.
“Those who oppose the report are looking on the mother earth with greed and only as a means to acquire wealth. They are in the garb of farmer to oppose the report”, he said.
