Tura(Meghalaya ), June 13: A day after the FJGP expressed their anger at the appointment of Aktar Ali, the MDC from Zikzak as the chairman of the GHDC forest department, another conglomerate of NGOs from Garo Hills have come out against the move.
The NGOs, including the GSU, AYWO and ADE raised their objections on the move of the new EC in appointing someone they were completely opposed to.
The NGOs asserted that they played a pivotal part in the GHADC restarting functions after a 4 month deadlock along with other stakeholders including the Church, civil society groups and themselves so that the new EC can solve the issue once and for all. However, they were surprised by the move of the EC to work against the sentiment of the Garos.
“We have objected to the appointment of non tribal MDCs and to appoint Aktar Ali as the chairman of the Forest Advisory Committee is in itself an insult to our rights enshrined in the Constitution. Leave alone the appointment of non tribals, even their participation is demeaning to the actual spirit of Sixth Schedule,” said the NGOs.
The NGOs called the move to appoint a non tribal MDC as forest chairman was undermining the ability of the tribal MDCs in managing the forest cover of Garo Hills.
“It is an open secret that many forest products are being illegally transported to neighbouring states and most of the time the operators are non tribals. The efficient management can provide a large chunk of revenue for the Council which in turn will help our Institution in a better way. We believe the appointment of an indigenous MDC will better the situation,” added the NGOs.
The NGO have now demanded that the current EC remove Aktar from the role of chairman with immediate effect else they would not shy away from acting on the matter.
