Rationale For Action

Gaining entitlement to the very land (forestlands) on which the Adivasis (literally, the first inhabitants) and other traditional communities have been dwelling and cultivating since ages continues to be one of their core problems which adds up to their disadvantaged position as tribals and forest dwelling communities. In the effort to claim ones ownership on the land has lead to a number of conflict situations and even mass movements have been initiated in this regard.

The Forest rights Bill was introduced in this context after a debate between tribal rights activists and conventional conservationists who argued that such a Bill would destroy all forests and is a threat to the forest biodiversity. Supporters of the Bill stated that it would be a landmark piece of legislation to correct the historical ‘injustices’ that had led to tribal deprivation. Almost two years after it was first conceived, the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of forest rights) Bill, 2006 was passed in the Parliament of India on Dec 18 and it received the assent of the President of India on Dec 29, 2006. The Act itself is a significant piece of legislation, both in its implications

for future governance of Indian forest, as well as in its recognition of historic injustice in the way in which the rights of Adivasis and other forest dwellers were dealt with by the colonial and post-colonial state.

This Act is focused towards

Recognizing and vesting the forest rights and occupation in forest land in forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in such forests for generations but whose rights could not be recorded;

To provided for a framework for recording the forest rights so vested and the nature of evidence required for such recognition and vesting in respect of forestland.

The above Act seems good at first look, but there are many apprehensions that might raise hindrances for the real objective to be fulfilled in the true sense of both letter and spirit. Some of which are –

Low level of awareness about the provisions of the Act,

Very few institutions or individuals working whole-heartedly to make the Act successful in this regard,

Centralized nature of the Act, which states that the final decision resides on the higher government authority rather than the Gram Sabha.

Mid term elections are due to take place and the political parties, be it the Governing UPA at Center or the opposition BJP, they are also vying to take credit of this Act. Whatever be the case, either the respective State Laws get passed in near future or takes time of a year or so, it would give us ample time to generate awareness about the importance of the Act and lobby with the State government officials to incorporate such provisions in the Act to make it more beneficial for the needy.

There also exists dispute over ownership of ‘forestlands’ between people and forest department but also between forest and revenue departments. In 1998, the State revenue departments reported that a total of 68.86 mha of land in the country is officially classified as ‘forest’ but in 1999 the State forest departments reported that a total of 76.52 mha is officially classified as ‘forest’ – a difference of 7.66 mha. With this anomaly and dispute over ownership between departments, the state of affairs can be well assessed between the department and individual farmers.

Realizing it as an opportune time to work towards making a greater mass of populous aware about the provisions of this Act, decision has been taken to work on a Campaign mode in few States in association of State and regional level forums and people’s organizations with the objective of making a wider outreach on one hand and to influence policy makers on the other for drafting of pro poor laws at respective State levels.