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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | State fails to expedite land titles distribution to tribals by Ashish Tripathi

State fails to expedite land titles distribution to tribals by Ashish Tripathi

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published Published on Nov 28, 2010   modified Modified on Nov 28, 2010

Considered a potent weapon for combating Naxalism, the distribution of land titles to tribals and forest workers under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, is not moving at a satisfactory pace in UP in comparison to other states. This, despite chief minister Mayawati's repeated orders to expedite the process. The Naxals mislead tribals living in abject poverty. The latter are also exploited by forest officials and police. The FRA recognises individual and community rights of forest dwellers over forest land and aims to defeat Naxals by empowering tribals with rights they have been denied for centuries.

The FRA 2006 provides tribals and forest dwellers the right to land in the forest where they have been living for years. While the tribals living in forests before 2006 will get titles, forest dwellers will have to prove 75 years of stay to avail the benefit. The Act provides that a family of a tribal or forest worker can get the ownership title on upto four acres of land they have been cultivating.

UP was the first state to convert a tribal settlement in the forest reserve area into a revenue village under the FRA. The distribution of land titles between December 2009 and April 2010 was swift. Around 70,000 claims were filed by January 2010, of which over 51,000 were rejected on various grounds and 9,000 odd titles were distributed.

But a recent status report of FRA implementation released by the Union tribal affairs ministry shows that UP is placed 13th in comparison to other states in percentage distribution of the titles over the number of claims received till October 31, 2010. Tripura tops with 66.89% title distribution followed by Orissa with 56.46% and Andhra Pradesh 50.69% in the list of 28 states. UP was at number 12 till February 2010. According to the figures available, Tripura received 1.75 lakh claims till October 31, 2010, of which 1.17 lakh were cleared, Orissa received 4.10 lakh claims, of which 2.31 lakh were cleared and Andhra Pradesh received 3.29 lakh claims, of which 1.67 lakh were cleared. UP received 91,406 claims, of which 10,092 were cleared (11.04%).

Of the total claims received in UP, 91,089 were individuals and 317 community against which 10,084 individuals and six community titles have been distributed. But 67,788 claims were rejected. FRA activists attribute the slow progress of distribution of claims and high rate of rejection in UP to the hurdles created by the forest officials in verification. The chief minister recently sent a team of senior officials to tribal areas in east UP to assess the situation. After their return, fresh orders to expedite the process of filing and disposal of claims were issued. She also directed to withdraw criminal cases on petty offences against tribals and announced that tribals will get a share in the revenue collected from the sale of tendu leaves, a forest produce.

"Since UP is among nine Naxal affected states, the state government has taken the FRA seriously. In fact, chief secretary warned subordinates that remarks on their annual confidential report will depend on the performance in FRA implementation. Now after being hauled up by the chief minister, I am sure officer concerned will expedite the implementation process," said a senior official.


The Times of India, 29 November, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/State-fails-to-expedite-land-titles-distribution-to-tribals/articleshow/7007112.cms


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