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bharat babu (NA)     08 December 2020

Need urgent advise of our forest land right

Dear All,  

I require urgent advise on our rights on our daily living in the forest and suitability “Forest Right Act, 2006”.   We are staying in a forest from our grandfather’s time. My grandfather is almost 90 years old now and from child hood he started to stay in the forest. Now still my grandfather is still alive. After that my father continued to stay in the forest and now my father is no more.

Two of my uncles relocated to nearby villages and settled with their family. Even we keep grow many trees in the forest and now like a watcher for those trees in the forest. This practice adopted by my grandfather.   Mainly we depend on the forest for our daily livelihood needs. Now with some well-wishers and govt support I got chance for my higher study. Now my mother and siblings all stay inside the forest.

By the way we are under Other Backward Class (OBC) in Odisha.

Recently some big influencer is coming through Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) which is the nodal agency for providing industrial infrastructure in the State of Odisha. And they are trying to take all land under IDCO and take lease in their name to setup some industry.

All the lands seems to be they are targeting all nearby hill area whereas we stay in the forest area (also some land nearby area)..  I have heard about the scheme Forest Right Act, 2006 where we are eligible to get the forest land in our name under the term “The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

My Query:

1. Are we eligible to apply the forest land under our name?

2. In Odisha the scheme is still applicable for “Other Traditional Forest Dwellers” as we are under OBC?

3. If this is applicable then what is the procedure for the application?

4. Can we fight against IDCO that we are staying in that place for more then 90 years and we depends on that land for for our daily livings..

Please suggest on this..

 



Learning

 3 Replies

P. Venu (Advocate)     09 December 2020

Section 2(o) of the he Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 defines "Other Traditional Forest Dwellers" as follows:.

(o) "other traditional forest dweller" means any member or community who has for at least three generations prior to the 13th day of December, 2005 primarily resided in and who depend on the forest or forests land for bona fide livelihood needs.

Explanation – For the purpose of this clause, "generation" means a period comprising of twenty-five years.

Provisions of Chapter IV (Section 6 ) lays down procedure for recognition of such rights:

CHAPTER IV

AUTHORITIES AND PROCEDURE FOR VESTING OF FOREST RIGHTS

6. (1) The Gram Sabha shall be the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights or both that may be given to the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers within the local limits of its jurisdiction under this Act by receiving claims, consolidating and verifying them and preparing a map delineating the area of each recommended claim in such manner as may be prescribed for exercise of such rights and the Gram Sabha shall, then, pass a resolution to that effect and thereafter forward a copy of the same to the Sub-Divisional Level Committee. (2) Any person aggrieved by the resolution of the Gram Sabha may prefer a petition to the Sub-Divisional Level Committee constituted under sub-section (3) and the Sub-Divisional Level Committee shall consider and dispose of such petition. Provided that every such petition shall be preferred within sixty days from the date of passing of the resolution by the Gram Sabha: Provided further that no such petition shall be disposed of against the aggrieved person, unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity to present his case.

(3) The State Government shall constitute a Sub-Divisional Level Committee to examine the resolution passed by the Gram Sabha and prepare the record of forest rights and forward it through the Sub-Divisional Officer to the District Level Committee for a final decision. (4) Any person aggrieved by the decision of the Sub-Divisional Level Committee may prefer a petition to the District Level Committee within sixty days from the date of decision of the Sub-Divisional Level Committee and the District Level Committee shall consider and dispose of such petition: Provided that no petition shall be preferred directly before the District Level Committee against the resolution of the Gram Sabha unless the same has been preferred before and considered by the Sub-Divisional level Committee: Provided further that no such petition shall be disposed of against the aggrieved person, unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity to present his case. (5) The State Government shall constitute a District Level Committee to consider and finally approve the record of forest rights prepared by the Sub-Divisional Level Committee. (6) The decision of the District Level Committee on the record of forest rights shall be final and binding. (7) The State Government shall constitute a State Level Monitoring Committee to monitor the process of recognition and vesting of forest rights and to submit to the nodal agency such returns and reports as may be called for by that agency. (8) The Sub-Divisional Level Committee, the District Level Committee and the State Level Monitoring Committee shall consist of officers of the department of Revenue, Forest and Tribal Affairs of the State Government and three members of the Panchayati Raj Institutions at the appropriate level, appointed by the respective Panchayati Raj Institutions, of whom two shall be the Scheduled Tribe members and at least one shall be a women, as may be prescribed. (9) The composition and functions of the Sub-Divisional Level Committee, the District Level Committee and the State Level Monitoring Committee and the procedure to be followed by them in the discharge of their functions shall be such as may be prescribed.

As could be seen, the primary authority is the Gram Sabha. It is hightime that you should have taken steps to approach the Gramsabha. All other aspects as secondary. 

1 Like

bharat babu (NA)     09 December 2020

Dear Venu Sir,

many many thanks for your kind suggestions. Now it is clear that our gram panchayat is the most important for our application...Anyway, all our local peoples are supportive and we are staying continuously from around 1930 or much prior to that...We mostly depends on the forest for our daily life...

Some points are bit not clear to me, such as ..

""Explanation – For the purpose of this clause, "generation" means a period comprising of twenty-five years.'' What does it means? can you please suggest on this..

Point 2: We are under OBC category and as per above explanation, seems to be we are fully eligible for this land...

Point 3: We are basically from Odisha..I hope the las is applicable for our state as well?



 

P. Venu (Advocate)     10 December 2020

Three generations cover a period of 75 years. Other aspects are to be taken care before the proceedings before the Gram Sabha.


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