Looking beyond the Forest Rights Act

News:  The supporters of tribal rights allege that the Forest Department is overlooking the genuine claims of the tribal people.

A majority of the tribal communities in India are poor and landless. They practice small-scale farming, pastoralism, and nomadic herding.

On the Human Development Index, the tribal-populated States always rank lower than the national average.

Acknowledging their poor status, the government passed the forest rights act to improve their livelihood.

However, even after 15 years, the Implementation of the Forest rights act is faced with many challenges resulting.

What are the issues in implementation?

Firstly, the act requires the constitution of a Forest Rights Committee comprising members from within the village by conducting a Gram Sabha with two-thirds of the members present at the meeting. This process is not followed in many places.

Reasons

-These committees were mostly constituted by the Panchayat Secretaries upon the directives received from District Magistrates at short notice.

-The nominations for members for the taluk-level and district-level committees were also not transparent.

Secondly, The FRA provides for equal rights in titles issued under the Act for women. They have the equitable role at every stage of decision-making. However, on the ground, the women were hardly visible in this regard.

Thirdly, in the initial stages of implementation, there was an insistence on satellite images as evidence while other admissible proofs were ignored, as happened in Gujarat. This resulted in mass rejections of claims by the authorities.

Fourth, various welfare and developmental schemes of the Rural Department were not extended everywhere to the tribal people who received documents of land possession under the FRA. Despite the directives issued by the Ministry to treat them on a par with others.

Fifth, poor awareness levels of FR act among the tribal people is also an issue, especially in the scheduled areas which are remotely located. To effectively present claims, a fair understanding of the Act and its implementation process is necessary.

Sixth, the involvement of NGOs was missing in some interior areas in States like Chhattisgarh, where the insurgency was affecting the lives of the people. Evidence suggests that implementation was better in areas that were fairly close to urban settings or where accessibility was easy.

What are the problems faced by Tribals?

Firstly, tribal areas are witnessing a decline in the quality of forest produce in their vicinity, thus forcing them to look for other sources of livelihood.

Secondly, earnings from activities such as a collection of tendu leaves for rolling local cigars were affected due to the influx of laborers from Bihar who were willing to work for low wages. For ex, Chhattisgarh.

Thirdly, Poor market and exploitation by local traders/middlemen.

Fourthly, they possess lands (including the lands recognised under the FRA) that are small, of poor quality (particularly lands located on hill slopes), and are not very fertile.

Fifthly, to enhance their income, they migrate to work as construction or road-laying labourers.

Lastly, due to the quality of education received by the youth in the remote districts, the possibility of acquiring meaningful jobs remains thin.

What are the suggestions to improve Tribal Livelihood?

NGOs suggest that the livelihoods of the locals would improve if horticulture practices are promoted in addition to bamboo and aloe vera plantations with an assured market.

A popular recommendation to improve tribal livelihood is to enhance medical and ecotourism along the lines of the Kerala model.

Civil society groups suggest providing skill-based education with assured jobs on a large scale to tribals.

Source: This post is based on the article “Looking beyond the Forest Rights Act” published in The Hindu on 23^rd   Dec 2021.