Dilutes Its Stand In Vedanta Case Affidavit New Delhi: The government has diluted its stand on requiring consent from tribals before handing over their forestlands for projects in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on the Vedanta case. The changed policy cited in the affidavit of the government, contrary to existing regulations, could now make it easy for hundreds of other projects as well which require formal consent from tribals who have rights over forestlands under the Forest Rights Act. Congress scion Rahul Gandhi had projected his pro-tribal image by leading the cause of tribals while the government rejected Vedanta’s proposal to mine bauxite in their traditional forests basing its decision on the lack of consent from the Dongria Kondh tribe inhabiting the Niyamgiri hills. TOI accessed a copy of the government’s affidavit prepared jointly by the tribal affairs and environment ministries that said such consent would be required only in exceptional cases where the government decides the ‘quality of life’ of the tribals may be affected and ‘a large number of them displaced’ – both provisions absent in the existing law and left undefined in the new affidavit. Instead of citing its regulations which bar use of forestlands by project developers without the consent of tribals, the government has instead defended its Vedanta decision on the ground that the project fell over land which is a sacred ground and would deny the tribals “their sacred places of worship and thereby amount to a violation of their fundamental right to manage their own affairs in the matter of religion”. The new position is all the more contrary to the one it had taken previously before the apex court claiming tribal rights handed over through the UPA’s Forest Rights Act could not be extinguished for development projects. On an odd note, now the consent, government has said, would be required for setting up dispensaries, fair price shops and providing other such basic needs to the tribals in the forestland but not for most of the industrial and development projects. The line taken by the government takes its cue from a PMO report in November 2012 recommending dilution of tribal rights. The report was recently rejected by the government with the environment minister raising concerns that it was in violation of the Forest Rights Act. The PMO had then decided along with the two nodal ministers to only seek exemption for roads and other linear projects from the need for gram sabha consent. But in the court affidavit it has now stated that consent would be required only in exceptional cases when it so decides.