Want to save the environment? Then shut down the MoEF

Times of India: New Delhi: Sunday, 04 May 2014.

It is from the modest confines of an internet cafecum-office in Raigarh that Ramesh Agrawal, 56, fought his biggest battle and won. Powered by the internet and the RTI, Agrawal led a grassroots campaign that resulted in the National Green Tribunal revoking permission for what was to be Chhattisgarh's biggest coal mine. Agarwal, who has survived an assault on his life, has recently been conferred the $1,75,000 Goldman Environmental Prize also known as the Green Nobel. He tells Padmaparna Ghosh why neither bullets nor jail time can deter him.

You were the owner of a cyber cafe. What made you take up the cause of tribal rights, even though it meant challenging big companies like Jindal Steel and Power Ltd?

For the last decade, we'd been silently looking as land was being taken away from tribals, either forcibly or through acquisition. This is mainly a tribal belt and non-tribals can't buy land here. But companies often prop up dummy entities to buy tribal land. Sometimes, the tribals came to know that their land has been acquired only when they were asked to vacate it. Almost all of these people are dependent on agriculture and when their land is gone, they have nothing left. Most promises of compensation or jobs are not kept. The tribals collect and sell minor forest produce but the jungles too are being cleared for mines.

Is environment really high on the agenda of our politicians?

No politician cares about the environment. It gets just a passing mention in manifestos. As for voters, who can raise environmental issues in the face of free laptops and cash? And the corporate will deal with any government . It doesn't matter who comes to power.

Did you ever face local criticism for halting projects that could have brought jobs to the locals?

What we have seen is that locals do not get the jobs, especially those whose land has been taken away. In Chhattisgarh, companies employ people from Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa. They don't want to give work to locals because outsiders don't unite or raise their voices. The companies also don't provide direct employment. Labour is mostly procured through contractors.

Much of your work has gone into making villagers aware of their rights. How have things changed with this awareness?

They were not aware of most rules - like the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act or PESA that enables gram sabhas to selfgovern their natural resources. Or that companies need gram sabha consent to operate here. As for RTI, no one even knows it exists. We started telling them all this. Our objective is to make them independent of us. Now many of them know where to complain, which officer to report to, how to go to court in the cities, who to co-petition with, what to ask for in an RTI, and how to phrase the application. They feel less alone. Imagine how hard it is for a tribal to go to Delhi to file a case.

You have been shot and jailed. Haven't you felt like giving up?

I always knew it was going to be risky. And I was familiar with their modus operandi. First bribes are offered - jobs, contracts, money. If that doesn't work, then false cases are filed. I have had three cases against me for defamation and have spent two and a half months in jail. Then comes the threat of "removal" . But if they persevere, we have to, too.

Do you think that the laws are enough to protect vulnerable sections like the tribals?

There are enough laws, but the problem is with the compliance agencies. If you want to save the environment, you need to shut down the MoEF (ministry of environment and forests) and the SPCBs (state pollution control boards). Let people save their own environment. Agencies take zero action. The ministry very rarely rejects any project. SPCBs often don't even remember to go to court on hearing days. The judiciary is the last option but we have to go through the system of grievance redressal first. It is not that the whole country is corrupt. There are some very decent people out there. But regulatory authorities are hopeless.

Do you feel that CSR work by mining companies can make a difference?

(Laughs) We have a Hindi metaphor for CSR, which when translated means that you stole our hoe and donated a needle. It is just eyewash. There is a Jindal hospital, a school and engineering college but that is not for us. These are for officers' children. No tribal can ever think of entering those glass buildings, they are so intimidating.