Thiruvanchoor non-committal on restoring land

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan  swung a remarkably blunt sword in defence of the tribals a day after the UDF Government decided not to evict Suzlon Energy Ltd from Attappadi. The Minister, who harped on protecting “the interests of the tribals,’’ was conspicuously non-committal on whether the land would be restored to the tribesmen in the event of it being proved that Suzlon had encroached on the land.Instead, the tribesmnen would be compensated with land elsewhere if it turned out that the land was theirs, the Minister told a press conference here on Thursday. He, however, was quite vague as to who would foot the bill for buying the substitute land - Suzlon or the state exchequer.The Minister was also silent on the ethical questions involved in a State Government promoting a profit-sharing agreement with a private company that has been roundly accused of stealing land from the tribesmen.(It may be recalled that a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary, which probed the Attappadi land scam, had recommended that the windmills should be dismantled. The committee had also observed that it was a clear case of trespass, conspiracy, fraud and cheating and that the case should be taken to its logical conclusion. The committee had recommended a profit-sharing arrangement for the tribals, but said that public sector companies such as NTPC and KINESCO should be called in first, and private players should be encouraged only after the project was well established.Beating about the bush on whether the land would be restored to the tribesmen, Thiruvanchoor also contradicted Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who said on Wednesday that the land would be given to the tribesmen if they desired it. The Chief Minister had also emphasised that the onus was on Suzlon to prove its ownership of the land and that the benefit of the doubt would be given to tribesmen if confusion persisted about ownership.