Q&A: N C Saxena, Member, Planning Commission

'The refinery will probably continue'

The report on Vedanta calls the approval for the refinery illegal. Should it not be cancelled?
No, it will probably continue with raw materials from other mines.

But the report has found many of those other mines illegal...
I am not aware of that. Our committee dealt only with the illegal expansion of the refinery.

You have not found any fault with the Ministry of Environment and Forests?
Their responsibility is about the 26 hectares of forest land Vedanta occupied without valid permission. We brought this to the notice of the government. The government is also at fault on the matter of violations of the Forest Rights Act (FRA). The tribal affairs ministry kept quiet about the violations when it was supposed to be the implementing authority for the law. It had been a very weak ministry.

Should’nt there be action against violators?
The state government is more culpable than the Centre and we have mentioned that officials are guilty. But, we did not recommend any action as we felt they might have acted under pressure from above.

Has’nt the environment ministry been diluting the powers of the tribal affairs ministry by forcing joint forest management committees (FMCs) that are not sanctioned in the FRA?
No, FMCs are not illegal.