17 June 2024
To
The Director, Social Welfare, Andaman and Nicobar islands
The Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi
The Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi
The Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, New Delhi.
Sir/ Madam,
On 22 January 2023, we in the Constitutional Conduct Group (a group of former civil servants belonging to the All India and Central Services, owing allegiance only to the Constitution of India, and not to any political party) had written an open letter to the Hon’ble President of India, objecting to the undesirable development project proposed to be undertaken in the Island of Great Nicobar. The development project consists of an international container transshipment terminal, a large green field international airport, a township and area development, and a solar and gas-based power plant, which would cover almost 16% of the island. Our objection was not only that the project would cause the destruction of extensive pristine forests and irreparably harm the precious ecology of Great Nicobar, but also because of the adverse impact such a project would have on the shy and reclusive tribal people of the island, viz. the Shompen, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), and the Nicobarese, a Scheduled Tribe (ST).
Our letter, which was one of several similar objections raised by concerned people, including the Nicobarese themselves, obviously fell on deaf ears, because we now learn that the EIA for the project has been completed, ignoring all concerns regarding the damage to the environment and to the tribal groups residing on the island. We are not aware whether any proper public hearing was held as required under the EIA, but if it was, all objections seem to have been dismissed out of hand. Moreover, the Tribal Council in their letter dated 22nd November, 2022, had withdrawn their consent from the NOC for the diversion of forest citing suppression of information, thereby making the Stage-I Forest Clearance granted to the project null and void. A petition was filed against this before the National Green Tribunal in Kolkata, who in their order dated 3rd April, 2023 had directed the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to constitute a High Powered Committee to revisit the deficiencies of the EIA. The committee was asked to submit a report until which the NGT had placed a temporary stay on the project. We are unaware if the High Powered Committee submitted its report and what was mentioned regarding the violations pointed out by the NGT. The present Social Impact Assessment (SIA), relating to part of the same project, is being carried out under the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. An SIA report has been prepared and objections from the public invited on it.
We have serious objections to the SIA report, on the way it has been prepared and is being pushed through in a hurry. We place here our views for your consideration:
- The SIA Report has been prepared by Probe Research and Social Development Pvt. Limited, an organization with its headquarters in Delhi. They state that they have made several visits to Campbell Bay in Great Nicobar, as well as to other places. However, their study appears to be superficial, considering the consultation has been done only with the owners of the land that is to be acquired (and perhaps with some others). The Land Acquisition Act of 2013 clearly states that the social impact assessment carried out should evaluate the potential impact of the acquisition on the local community. Unfortunately, a very limited view seems to have been taken of the term ‘local community’. The local community cannot be merely the settlers and their neighbours. The tribal groups on the island, living in the Tribal Reserve, whose lives will be deeply and adversely affected by the project have to be considered as part of the local community, and the impact of the land acquisition on them should have been considered. An SIA which does not do that has to be dismissed as flawed.
- Equally importantly, the airport area covers 8.88 sq. kms. of deemed forest, which is part of the Tribal Reserve area in Great Nicobar. This would certainly affect the Shompen and the Great Nicobarese. Yet the SIA has not taken the trouble to communicate with them.
- It is not apparent from the report whether any anthropologists were consulted. It seems not. Considering that the Anthropological Survey has done such extensive research on the islands and its tribal groups, they should, at the very least, have been consulted. The original residents of the island were, and continue to be, two vulnerable tribal groups, the Shompen and the Nicobarese, and the Tribal Reserve they live in will be seriously impacted by the entire project, including the proposed airport. Such consultation should therefore have been essential, not just consultation with the land owners and non-tribal people, who are later settlers in the area.
- The Tribal Reserve in Great Nicobar, along with other such areas in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has been declared as such under the A & N Islands Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation (ANPATR). This Regulation was notified by a Presidential Proclamation in 1956 under Article 243(2) of the Indian Constitution and has the same force as an Act. Therefore, any change in the deemed forest area will impact the Tribal Reserves and their inhabitants, and cannot be ignored by any Social Impact Assessment. It is surprising that the Social Welfare Department of the Andaman Administration whose primary duty should be to look after the welfare of the tribes should deal with this matter so cavalierly, ignoring the damaging impacts on them of different projects.
We therefore urge you to set aside the present SIA and have a proper social impact assessment undertaken together with the Anthropological Survey of India; and, if such an assessment shows a significant adverse impact on the Tribal Reserve in Great Nicobar and its vulnerable tribal groups, to advise the government to abandon the project forthwith. We also reiterate our request of 22 January 2023 to abandon the project due to its disastrous ecological consequences.
SATYAMEVA JAYATE
Constitutional Conduct Group (103 signatories, at pages 3-6 below)
| 1. | Anita Agnihotri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI |
| 2. | Anand Arni | RAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 3. | Aruna Bagchee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines, GoI |
| 4. | Sandeep Bagchee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 5. | G. Balachandhran | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 6. | Vappala Balachandran | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 7. | Gopalan Balagopal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 8. | Chandrashekar Balakrishnan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Coal, GoI |
| 9. | Sushant Baliga | Engineering Services (Retd.) | Former Additional Director General, Central PWD, GoI |
| 10. | Rana Banerji | RAS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 11. | T.K. Banerji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Union Public Service Commission |
| 12. | Sharad Behar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 13. | Aurobindo Behera | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha |
| 14. | Madhu Bhaduri | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Portugal |
| 15. | K.V. Bhagirath | IFS (Retd.) | Former Secretary General, Indian Ocean Rim Association, Mauritius |
| 16. | Pradip Bhattacharya | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Planning and Administrative Training Institute, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 17. | Nutan Guha Biswas | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Police Complaints Authority, Govt. of NCT of Delhi |
| 18. | Ravi Budhiraja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, GoI |
| 19. | Sundar Burra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 20. | R. Chandramohan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi |
| 21. | Rachel Chatterjee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh |
| 22. | Ranjan Chatterjee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Meghalaya & former Expert Member, National Green Tribunal |
| 23. | Kalyani Chaudhuri | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 24. | Purnima Chauhan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Administrative Reforms, Youth Services & Sports and Fisheries, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 25. | Gurjit Singh Cheema | IAS (Retd.) | Former Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Govt. of Punjab |
| 26. | F.T.R. Colaso | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Karnataka & former Director General of Police, Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir |
| 27. | Anna Dani | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 28. | Vibha Puri Das | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI |
| 29. | P.R. Dasgupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI |
| 30. | Pradeep K. Deb | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI |
| 31. | Nitin Desai | Former Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI | |
| 32. | M.G. Devasahayam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana |
| 33. | Renu Sahni Dhar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 34. | Kiran Dhingra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI |
| 35. | Sushil Dubey | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Sweden |
| 36. | A.S. Dulat | IPS (Retd.) | Former OSD on Kashmir, Prime Minister’s Office, GoI |
| 37. | K.P. Fabian | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Italy |
| 38. | Prabhu Ghate | IAS (Retd.) | Former Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoI |
| 39. | Suresh K. Goel | IFS (Retd.) | Former Director General, Indian Council of Cultural Relations, GoI |
| 40. | H.S. Gujral | IFoS (Retd.) | Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Govt. of Punjab |
| 41. | Meena Gupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, GoI |
| 42. | Wajahat Habibullah | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, GoI and former Chief Information Commissioner |
| 43. | Siraj Hussain | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Agriculture, GoI |
| 44. | Kamal Jaswal | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Information Technology, GoI |
| 45. | Naini Jeyaseelan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
| 46. | Najeeb Jung | IAS (Retd.) | Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi |
| 47. | Gita Kripalani | IRS (Retd.) | Former Member, Settlement Commission, GoI |
| 48. | Sudhir Kumar | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal |
| 49. | Subodh Lal | IPoS (Resigned) | Former Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI |
| 50. | Sandip Madan | IAS (Resigned) | Former Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission |
| 51. | Harsh Mander | IAS (Retd.) | Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 52. | Amitabh Mathur | IPS (Retd.) | Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI |
| 53. | Aditi Mehta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan |
| 54. | Shivshankar Menon | IFS (Retd.) | Former Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser |
| 55. | Sonalini Mirchandani | IFS (Resigned) | GoI |
| 56. | Malay Mishra | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Hungary |
| 57. | Sunil Mitra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI |
| 58. | Avinash Mohananey | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Sikkim |
| 59. | Satya Narayan Mohanty | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission |
| 60. | Sudhansu Mohanty | IDAS (Retd.) | Former Financial Adviser (Defence Services), Ministry of Defence, GoI |
| 61. | Jugal Mohapatra | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Department of Rural Development, GoI |
| 62. | Anup Mukerji | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar |
| 63. | Deb Mukharji | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former Ambassador to Nepal |
| 64. | Jayashree Mukherjee | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 65. | Shiv Shankar Mukherjee | IFS (Retd.) | Former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
| 66. | Gautam Mukhopadhaya | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Myanmar |
| 67. | Sobha Nambisan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Secretary (Planning), Govt. of Karnataka |
| 68. | B.M. Nanta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 69. | Surendra Nath | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Finance Commission, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 70. | Amitabha Pande | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Inter-State Council, GoI |
| 71. | Maxwell Pereira | IPS (Retd.) | Former Joint Commissioner of Police, Delhi |
| 72. | R. Poornalingam | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI |
| 73. | N.K. Raghupathy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI |
| 74. | V.P. Raja | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission |
| 75. | V. Ramani
|
IAS (Retd.) | Former Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra |
| 76. | K. Sujatha Rao | IAS (Retd.) | Former Health Secretary, GoI |
| 77. | M.Y. Rao | IAS (Retd.) | |
| 78. | Satwant Reddy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, GoI |
| 79. | Vijaya Latha Reddy | IFS (Retd.) | Former Deputy National Security Adviser, GoI |
| 80. | Julio Ribeiro | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police, Govt. of Punjab |
| 81. | Aruna Roy | IAS (Resigned) | |
| 82. | Manabendra N. Roy | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 83. | A.K. Samanta | IPS (Retd.) | Former Director General of Police (Intelligence), Govt. of West Bengal |
| 84. | Deepak Sanan | IAS (Retd.) | Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 85. | G.V. Venugopala Sarma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Odisha |
| 86. | S. Satyabhama | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI |
| 87. | N.C. Saxena | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI |
| 88. | Ardhendu Sen | IAS (Retd.) | Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal |
| 89. | Abhijit Sengupta | IAS (Retd.) | Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI |
| 90. | Aftab Seth | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Japan |
| 91. | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFoS (Retd.) | Former MD, State Forest Development Corporation, Govt. of Gujarat |
| 92. | Ashok Kumar Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia |
| 93. | Navrekha Sharma | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Indonesia |
| 94. | Pravesh Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 95. | Raju Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh |
| 96. | Rashmi Shukla Sharma | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh |
| 97. | Avay Shukla | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary (Forests & Technical Education), Govt. of Himachal Pradesh |
| 98. | Satyavir Singh | IRS (Retd.) | Former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI |
| 99. | Tara Ajai Singh | IAS (Retd.) | Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka |
| 100. | A.K. Srivastava | IAS (Retd.) | Former Administrative Member, Madhya Pradesh Administrative Tribunal |
| 101. | Prakriti Srivastava | IFoS (Retd.) | Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Special Officer, Rebuild Kerala Development Programme, Govt. of Kerala |
| 102. | Anup Thakur | IAS (Retd.) | Former Member, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission |
| 103. | Rudi Warjri | IFS (Retd.) | Former Ambassador to Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica |
Constitutional Conduct Group 