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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | A path through the forest -Geetanjoy Sahu

A path through the forest -Geetanjoy Sahu

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published Published on Mar 19, 2018   modified Modified on Mar 19, 2018
-The Indian Express

Forest Rights Act is not an obstacle to growth. Its non-implementation will be politically counter-productive.

The farmers’ and forest dwellers’ march from Nashik to Mumbai, and the Maharashtra government’s decision to approve most of their demands within the next six months, has established the fact that land and forest rights are going to be determining factors for political establishments across India. The protest in Mumbai tells us that a stir is not going to be spontaneous anymore. Rather, it will be well organised, consisting of not only farmers but also forest dwellers and landless people who have been deprived and alienated from their resources, especially forest resources.

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or FRA was a landmark legislation that sought to restore the rights of forest dwellers over land, community forest resources and habitats, and the governance and management of forests. Prior to that, most forest dwellers in the country were denied rights to their traditional forestlands since colonial times. The government had even classified some of them as encroachers on their own land. But even 11 years after implementation of FRA, there is much to be desired. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ latest database of October 2017 reveals that out of 41,89,827 claims for land rights made by forest dwellers, only 18,24,27 have been accepted by the authorities.

Even the recognition process of rights is poor, which has resulted in the rejection of thousands of legitimate claims made by forest dwellers. In some cases titles have been given over less area than what was legitimately claimed by forest dwellers.

Of the total forest rights titles issued so far, the majority are of individual forest rights. Only less than 4 per cent titles recognise community forest rights. Though recognition of individual rights is crucial as it enables the landholders to get the legal right to cultivate and invest their resources on that land to make it more productive, the community forest titles enable all the villagers, including landless people, to access, use and sell minor forest produce and use other forest resources.

Instead of addressing the implementation problems, governments across the country have introduced conflicting policies that go against the spirit of the FRA. For example, Maharashtra issued a Village Forest Rules notification in May 2014 under the Indian Forest Act, 1927. These rules place the governance of forests in the hands of committees that are constituted and controlled by the forest department, including in areas where the community forest rights are yet to be claimed, have been claimed or received.

Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and many other states have forced plantations on recognised individual and community forest areas without communities’ consent. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act 2016 was passed to manage the more than Rs 50,000 crore fund to be used for plantation, despite protests from tribal organisations across the country. The CAF Act has been structured in a manner that it provides total control of the massive fund to the forest bureaucracy with virtually no political accountability and consent of the gram sabha for plantation activity in their recognised and potential community forest areas.

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The Indian Express, 19 March, 2018, http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/farmers-protest-forest-rights-act-fra-a-path-through-the-forest-5102510/


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