The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has recently
given approval for the introduction of the "Scheduled Tribes and Forest
Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill" in the ensuing session of
Parliament. The Bill, being drafted by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, will
grant land rights to tribal communities in forest areas prior to the coming
into force of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. It will also benefit tribals
living in villages called "forest villages" where tribals have not
been given land rights despite living in these areas and practising agriculture
on these lands for several generations.
Background to the Bill:
Rights of Tribals over Forest is an inalienable and
irrefutable historical fact. The colonial rule for the first time deprived the
Tribals of their forest and viewed forests only as a source of revenue. The
British government made encroachment on forestlands an offence under the Indian
Forest Act 1927 and various state acts. Simultaniously, however, it also
settled a number of tribal and non-tribal people in forests to manage forest
fires and collect forest produce etc.
After independence, the forest department reiterated
its inalienable right to the forest land. The stringent Forest Conservation Act
of 1980 forbids regularisation of encroachments.
Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act says-
“Restriction
on the dereservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purpose.
Notwithstanding anything
contained in any other law for the time being in force in a State, no State
Government or other authority shall make, except with the prior approval of the
Central Government, any order directing-
(i) that any reserved forest (within the meaning of
the expression "reserved forest" in any law for the time being in
force in that State) or any portion thereof, shall cease to be reserved;
(ii) that any forest land or any portion thereof may
be used for any non-forest purpose;
(iii) that any forest land or any portion thereof may
be assigned by way of lease or otherwise to any private person or to any
authority, corporation, agency or any other organisation not owned, managed or
controlled by Government;
(iv)
that any forest land or any portion thereof may be cleared of trees which have
grown naturally in that land or portion, for the purpose of using it for
reafforestation.
Explanation - For the porpose of this section, "non-forest
purpose" means the breaking up or clearing of any forest land or portion
thereof for-
(a)
the cultivation of tea, coffee, spices, rubber, palms, oil-bearing plants,
horticultural crops or medicinal plants;
(b) any purpose other than reafforestation;
but does not include any work relating or ancillary
to conservation, development and management of forests and wildlife, namely,
the establishment of check-posts, fire lines, wireless communications and
construction of fencing, bridges and culverts, dams, waterholes, trench marks,
boundary marks, pipelines or other like purposes.”
Thus the provisions of Forest Conservation Act 1980
seeks to regulate the pre-1980 encroachments and permit their regularisation
and also stops regularisation of post-1980 encroachments.
The Environment Ministry has over the years tried to
enforce the act with respect to encroahers. In guidelines issued by the
Environment Ministry on September 18, 1990 it asked the state governments to
evict all “ineligible” category of pre 1980 settlers and encroachers after
October 25, 1980. Again, on May 30, 2002, the environment ministry issued to
the state governments an order asking them to evict all encroachers in
compliance with the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 and the guidelines of 1990.
Over
the years, exploitation of the Tribal people and lack of development in forest
villages can be traced to the weak legal status of these people. The poor and
illiterate tribals often did not maintain records of occupancy and face
repeated threat of eviction from their lands. The inability to use the forest
resources has kept them in the clutches of forest officials and contractors of
forest department. Not being recognized as legal dwellers over these lands,
most of their settlements have not been granted the status of revenue villages
and therefore no development activities like digging of wells, opening of
schools and primary health centres etc have taken place there.
It
is therefore not surprising that Naxalism has flourished in the forest areas.
Moreover, the basic premise that the recognition of the rights of the tribal
people would be automatically harmful for the environment is fallacious. In
fact it is well documented that the Tribals have a unique and sustainable
relationship with the forests.
The
National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government is very specific and
committed on the issue of land rights to the Tribal people-
“The
UPA administration will take all measures to reconcile the objectives of
economic growth and environmental conservation, particularly as far as tribal
communities dependent on forests are concerned…..The UPA government will
immediately review the overall strategy and programmes for the development of
tribal areas to plug loopholes and to work out more viable livelihood
strategies. In addition, more effective systems of relief and rehabilitation
will be put in place for tribal and other groups displaced by development
projects. Tribal people alienated from land will be rehabilitated. “
The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has taken
personal interest to see that the promise to the Tribals in the CMP is
fulfilled. In a meeting with officials on January 19 this year, he gave his
approval for the introduction of the ''Scheduled Tribes and Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill'', granting land rights to tribal
communities in forest areas, in the next session of Parliament. He asked the
Ministry of Tribal Affairs to draft the bill and introduce it in the
Parliament.
The proposed Bill will recognise the rights of tribal
communities living in forest areas prior to the coming into force of the Forest
Conservation Act, 1980, but were left unsettled in government records. It will
also benefit tribals living in villages called ''forest villages'' where they
have not been given land rights despite living in the areas and farming on
these lands for several generations. The Bill will-
(i) grant land right to the tribals and others living
in forests prior to 1980;
(ii) address the legal status of the use of minor
forest produce by the forest communities; and
(iii) kick-start long overdue developmental activity
in forest villages.
AD/SK
(Release ID :6845)