Forest Rights Act

Foresters blamed for weak implementation in state

Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, May 31
Setting up the tone for nationwide public consultations on United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
government’s important legislation, the Forest Rights Act, a joint committee instituted by
the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs yesterday held its
first public consultations in the forest predominant state of Uttarakhand.
A lack of sensitisation, misinformation and a resistance on the part of the forest authorities
emerged as major stumbling blocks towards the implementation of the Forest Rights Act in
Uttarakhand. The speakers blamed Uttarakhand Forest officials of doing little to ensure
implementation of the Act in the state with many accusing forest officials of usurping their
forest rights on the pretext of putting some of the forest dwelling communities outside the
purview of the Act.
A member of the Tongia community in the Rajaji National Park, Munni Lal, argued that while
those implementing the Forest Rights Act seek 75 years of residency records from them to
consider their claims, the Tongia community, by their nature of work, remained over a piece
of land for not more than five years and thus giving residential proof was altogether
impossible for them. Few know that Tongia are the people who used to be hired by the
British for plantation in forest areas. During the passage of time, they settled in forest
areas. However, the system was discontinued after 1986.
Echoing similar sentiments, Noor Alam, a Van Gujjar, airing his grievance accused the
Uttarakhand forest authorities of hardly making an initiative to protect their forest rights. He
said the Van Gujjars’ forest rights were the least being recognised by Rajaji Park officials,
which they later argued was a critical habitat.
Uttarakhand Van Panchayat Sangharsh Morcha leader Tarun Joshi said restoring forest
rights of forest-dependent communities apart from tribesmen was also a matter of debate in
Uttarakhand hills where nearly 85 per cent of land had forest cover. He said many of those
living in fringe forest areas were totally dependent on forests for their livelihood. Boksha
Prem Singh highlighted the plight of members of the Boksha, a tribal community, that
shifted after coming up of Haripura Dam in Udham Singh Nagar, but was yet to get
ownership rights over land where they were rehabilitated.
From NGO’s side Praveen Kaushal from Sophia, an organisation working for the betterment
of Rajaji Van Gujjars, referred to the problems faced by nomadic tribes like Van Gujjars
towards submitting their claims under the Forest Rights Act. He said many Van Gujjars from
Uttar Pradesh, who move to higher reaches of the Gangotri National Park every summers,
face a hostile nature of the Uttarakhand forest authorities, who identify them as outsiders.
Committee member Ashish Kothari said the public consultations had taken up the issues
linked to forest dewellers in Uttarakhand and the adjoining western Uttar Pradesh. He said
while the committee had held field visits in several states, the Dehradun public consultation
had been the first such programme in the country.
On a three-day visit to Uttarakhand, the committee members will also visit the Rajaji
National Park that has a sizeable number of Van Gujjars. It will also hold consultations with
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary and other officials of the Forest and Social Welfare Ministry to
take stock of progress made by Uttarakhand for the implementation of the Forest Rights
Act.
Apart from Ashish Kothari, committee members Arup Saikia, Roma and the member
secretary Rakesh Dogra listened to the grievances put forth by the forest dwellers and
assured taking up their sentiments at the higher level. The committee after holding
consultations in other parts of the country will be submitting its findings to the Central
government.
A lot has to be done, says Panel member
Implementing the Forest Rights Act in letter and in spirit will need a lot of determined
efforts as initial signals reveal a weak Forest Rights Act at the implementation level.
Aimed at giving ownership rights over forestland to traditional forest dwellers, the
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act
2006 came at the initiative of the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.
While the overall scenario reveals a weak and slow pace of the implementation of the Forest
Rights Act in the country, the only glimmer of hope has come from states of Orissa and
Andhra Pradesh that have somehow made a steady progress in this regard. As of
Uttarakhand, it fares badly in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act registering a slow
rate of progress in its implementation.
“Orissa has been regularly monitoring the progress made in the implementation of the
Forest Rights Act and has even resorted to video conferencing to review the progress while
Uttarakhand lags far behind in its implementation,” Ashish Kothari from Kalpavriksh told
The Tribune. Kalpavriksh is an environment action group based in Pune.
“It seems there is definitely a sense of resentment on the part of the forest authorities, who
find the provisions of the new Act detrimental to their control over forests,” opined Ashish.
He admitted that sincere efforts were needed in many states for ensuring that the Act got
implemented fully.
Also a member of a joint committee constituted by Union Environment and Forest and Union
Tribal Ministries to inquire into the status of the implementation of the Act in the country,
Kothari said a lot of work still needed to be done to make forest dewellers aware of their
rights under the Forest Rights Act. He said there had also been much of information vis-à-
vis applicability of the Act in the protected areas.
Kothari emphasised improving focus on exercising community rights on forest than
individual ones. He also called for more of pro-active role on the part of nodal agencies for a
speedy implementation of forest rights.