Old wine in new bottle
The stated objective of the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005 is to correct the injustices suffered by the country's tribal people since colonial times. This is indeed laudable and the bill needs to be tabled in the parliament. But if passed in it's present form, the tribal bill is sure to fail in its stated objective. This is because the proposed legislation remains caparisoned in the framework of existing forest laws and policies.
For example, Section 4 (2) of the tribal bill states that "The rights...under the proposed act shall be subject to cutoff date of October 25, 1980 or any other date specified by the Union government'. The background note accompanying the bill