Forest laws binding hands
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21/09/2008
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Deccan Herald (Bangalore)
Bangalore, DHNS:
At the end of a three-day summit of the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarta Sammelan on Sunday, Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya said that Forestry laws prevented them from providing basic amenities to the Vanavasis. Even amenities like education, health and sanitation were denied as no serious efforts have been made to provide it, he said.
He said that the Vanavasis were being exploited on two sides, one by the imposition of Western ideology to their simple way of life and secondly by being supplied arms and being asked to fight against the state.
Allocation
Acharya also stated that Rs 1,098 crore allocated under the budget to improve the situation of the vanavasis would be monitored and directed towards programmes aimed at achieving that goal.
Sri Raghaveshara Bharathi Swami strongly condemned the killing of Swami Laxmananand Saraswati in Orissa, said that the Vanavasis have the treasure of nature and knowledge which should be preserved for the posterity. He said that it was not desirable to destroy this social values thorough intrusion of modern ideologies.