PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara has alleged that the State government is planning to reintroduce the old and now abolished Maldari (contractor) system for exploitation of forest wealth which is a clear violation of the orders of the Supreme Court.
Interacting with the mediapersons at the State headquarters of the Congress here on Saturday, Mahara said that before 1974, the Maldari system was prevalent in the entire country. He said that later the government of India set up the Swaminathan commission in this regard. The commission in its recommendations advocated for scientific exploitation of forest wealth. On the basis of this report the Central government mandated that only government agencies will be involved in forest wealth exploitation.
Mahara said that in the year 1995, some States, including in the Uttarakhand region of the then Uttar Pradesh, practice of giving contracts for exploitation of forests was restarted. A petition was filed in Supreme Court by one Goda Varman on which the SC ruled that work of exploitation of forest wealth cannot be done through any external agency or contractor other than the Forest department.
The PCC president said that in February this year, the office of the regional manager (headquarters) of Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation had issued orders in a hurry and issued guidelines to start the Maldari system which violates the SC order.
He said that at present, 1,100 permanent and 800 workers of outsourcing agencies are working against 2,828 posts sanctioned in the UFDC. Mahara added that the officers of the corporation are conspiring to remove outsourced employees by starting the old contract system.
