Ranchi: Vijay Shankar Nayak, Central Vice President of Adivasi Moolvasi Janadhikar Manch and former Legislative Assembly candidate, on Saturday urged the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Government to compensate displaced and affected families from nine existing wildlife sanctuaries before moving ahead with the proposed Saranda Wildlife Sanctuary. Nayak said the amount owed to these families totals ₹6,000 crore.
He warned that failure to provide the compensation would prompt legal action in the Jharkhand High Court against the State Government and Forest Department for violations of Section 18A(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
“No steps were ever taken under Sections 19 to 25, nor was any final notification issued under Section 26 for any of the nine sanctuaries in Jharkhand. The government has neglected its statutory duty under Section 18A(1) toward displaced and affected families,” Nayak said.
Highlighting the 2003 amendment introduced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which added Section 18(2) to ensure affected communities maintain access to fodder, fuel, and other forest resources until final notification, Nayak said the state has ignored these obligations.
“Approximately 3 million people—around 600,000 families—depend directly on forest resources in these sanctuary zones. Even at a modest ₹20,000 per family per year over fifty years, the total compensation due is ₹6,000 crore, which is legally and morally owed,” he added.