TRIBAL Welfare Minister Govind Gaude has led officials to dispose of forest rights claims registered by about 10,000 applicants under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 by the close of the year. This would require answers that are quick to inter-departmental problems. The process for settling forest rights claims started way back in July 2012 but not a lot of cases are disposed of by the committees so far. The minister’s deadline gives just over three months. The officers would have to work hard to meet with the deadline and pay tens of thousands of instances. As the difficulties have not been solved on the surface it, the task appears unlikely. The officials have completed spot verification of just 2,709 claims within a little more than five decades. Given the rate of work because the Act was executed it is improbable that the settlement of rights claims could be finished within the period given by the Union.
Instead of establishing a deadline, then the government should discover the issues that were coming from the way of disposal of the forest rights claims. The minister must have apprised himself of these issues encountered by the officers in managing and deciding the circumstances. It could have been simpler if the government had drawn up an action program based on the experiences and observations of those officials participated in the Act’s implementation. Just giving instructions to settle the cases could lead to the process being by-passed by the officials. There is also a possibility of some officials or elements utilizing the circumstances while denying rights to favor some individuals. There’s absolutely not any harm in extending the deadline by more or six months. It’s not an urgent issue. Forest rights claims are registered so the sake of conservation of forest and surroundings as well as the rights of forest dwellers are shielded without any mutual harm, and they have to be analyzed based on particular standards and stipulations. The government should attempt to eliminate the bottlenecks.
For settling the promises made under the Forest Rights Act, 19, the past deadline has been overlooked by the nation. The then secretary of tribal affairs, P Krishnamurthy, in a demonstration on the activity plan of Goa state on implementation of the Forest Rights Act had granted ‘final commitment’ that implementation could be achieved in a mission mode to assist the forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers get rewards within the targeted period of December 31, 2013. In Goa there are communities who’d normally not have any evidence and no tribal groups. There aren’t any forest villages in the nation. All settlements in forest regions have entries in the revenue survey village records, which should ease the usage of their statements without hassles. But for reasons unknown the process has not been completed even after five decades. Goa is a small state. There is another of each plot of land below the possession of community or a family or some proof; so the Forest Rights Act’s implementation should not pose much of a issue for the officials.
If the delay in the implementation is by way of lethargy or vested interests the government should figure out the persons and act against them sternly. The delay has held up grant for no fault of theirs to the people of the rights since they set their promises up well. The individuals have borne the brunt of action on the officials’ portion in settling their own claims. On the Kumeri cultivators, who have been over the decades cultivating plants an early settlement of claims could have been a fantastic assistance. The tribals are a organized section of society. Patience has a limit. They are requesting the rights recognized under legislation and not anything more. They have been feeling uncertain about whether they would be granted the rights or never. Let the government end this doubt and grant rights to the legitimate applicants
possible.
source http://www.tnbearhunters.com/forest-rights-elude-forest-dwellers/
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