MP: Congress holds protest on tribals issue, demands implementation of PESA Act

Bhopal, July 30 The third day of the Monsoon session of Madhya Pradesh Assembly started on Wednesday, amid protest from the Congress legislators outside the House.

A group of Congress legislators led by the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Umang Singhar held a protest, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government of evicting Tribal families from the forest areas in the state.

Singhar, who is the nephew of former Deputy Chief Minister Jamuna Devi, and an emerging Tribal leader in the state, alleged that the PESA Act (The Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas), which provides some special powers to the tribal communities, is not being implemented fully on ground.

"Tribal people, who constructed homes before 2006 in forest areas are being forced to move out. Their land registries are being cancelled. Tribals will not leave forest at any cost. PESA Act was introduced to protect tribals' rights, but it is not being implemented fully on ground," he said.

Singhar, who is an MLA from Gandhwani Assembly constituency in the tribal-dominated Dhar district, said that Congress has always stood with tribals.

"We will keep fighting to protect tribals' rights. The BJP influenced tribals making false promises during the Assembly elections, but they forgot those promises after the election got over," he added.

Veteran Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who had recently alleged that tribals' land are being usurped and being handed over to real estate developers in Chhindwara, said that situation is very similar in other parts of the state.

Nath reiterated his accusation at the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government of making hollow announcements in the Assembly, which are seldom materialised.

"This is the government of announcements and assurances, and I have repeatedly said that there is no trace of the number of announcements made by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan," upon reaching the Assembly on Wednesday.

On the third day of the Assembly session, ruling and Opposition members will discuss the supplementary budget in the House.

Besides, several important Bills related with commercial tax and land registry are also likely to be tabled during the proceedings on Wednesday.

State Finance Minister Jagdish Devda had tabled the first supplementary budget for the year 2025-26 in the Assembly on Tuesday.

The budget has made the net provision of Rs 2,356.80 crore, including Rs 1,003.99 in revenue head and Rs 1,352.81 crore in capital head.

Responding to Congress' allegation on improper implementation of the PESA Act by the Union gvernment, veteran BJP leader and the State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister, Prahlad Patel said, "Those who are raising questions should know that implementation of the PESA Act has been exemplary in Madhya Pradesh and results have started coming out. Those who achieved nothing in life, they are trying to gain political mileage by levelling false allegations."

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