Tura Lok Sabha MP and former Union minister Agatha Sangma has opposed “unilateral imposition” of the National Mission on Edible Oil – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) programme by the Centre on the people of the Northeast.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sangma called for a wider consultation with all stakeholders before moving forward with the decision to implement the programme.
Sangma said the Union Cabinet cleared a plan under the aegis of NMEO-OP and allocated Rs 11,040 Crore to “reduce the import of edible oil and downsize the import bill, which is well appreciated.” However, she said, “The concern is generated when one peeks into the liner details of the program.”
She said that the plantation areas selected are the Northeastern region and the Andaman Islands both of which are biodiversity hotspots and ecologically fragile. “Palm plantation in all certainty will denude vast swathes of land of its forest cover. Loss of habitat for the endangered wildlife will have a devastating impact, she added.
Sangma pointed out that palm tree is not an endemic species of plant of the Northeast region and large-scale adoption of a foreign species of plant which is water-intensive harvest will definitely create irreparable ecological imbalance and distort the groundwater table.
Stating that the other concern is of socio-cultural issue, she said Northeast India, though sparsely populated than rest of India, is cloned with many ethnic tribes with their own cultural heritage and practices.
She said “ownership of land is a centrality of any tribal society which is also connected to the identity, in many cases, it is the community ownership”.
Wide-spread plantation for commercial gain in all possibility will detach the tribesman from his prized possession of land and wreak havoc on the social fabric, she said.
“I, therefore register my opposition to the unilateral imposition of the NMEO-OP program on the people of the Northeast region and request you to kindly have a wider consultation with all stakeholders before moving forward with this decision,” Sangma said in the letter.
