What are the Forest Rights Acts?
The Odisha government is all set to achieve the targeted goal of awarding all rights specified by the historic Act and complete implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) by 2024.
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 was passed by the Indian Parliament in 2006 (also known as the Forest Rights Act [FRA]), a ground breaking emancipatory law that has the power to drastically alter the lives and means of support for more than 150 million forest-dependent people.
FRA’s importance in Odisha
The law is particularly important for Odisha, where legally recorded forests make up 37.34 percent of the state’s geographical area. 62 Scheduled Tribes make up more than 22.8 percent of the population of the state. The fact that STs and OTFDs in Odisha are extremely dependent on forest areas for their livelihood and survival was disregarded while the state’s legal forests were being established.
We would be able to complete the task assigned to the State government under the FRA by 2024”, Says Ranjan Chopra, ST and SC Development Secretary of Odisha
National consultation on ‘Potential of Forest Rights Act in the context of Tribal Development; Implementation Gaps and Way Forward’ was conducted here this Thursday and on addressing the consultation the ST and SC Development Secretary of Odisha Ranjan Chopra stated that, “we are confident enough to launch Mission 2024 for FRA where we are committing ourselves to saturate the state of Odisha by granting all kinds of forest rights whether it is individual community or habitat.”
According to Ms.Chopra, “All tribal members will receive their legitimate owners. The Planning and Convergence Department and the Finance Department are investigating the mission. I think we should soon be able to start the ambitious program. We would be able to complete the task assigned to the State government under the FRA by 2024”.
A deadline for converting 587 forest villages into income-generating communities
The State administration has set a deadline for converting 587 forest villages into income-generating communities. Only 15 forest communities have so far received recognition as revenue villages.
“All previous land pattas (lease), or documents of rights, have been made available digitally, and all future pattas will be done as well. All records will be kept on a special website. Non-government organization partners have supported the entire land demarcation and outreach process”, said Ms. Chopra.
86.4% of the titles delivered were in the Schedule V States
22.34 lakh forest rights titles, including 21,32,217 individual and 1,02,075 communal titles, have reportedly been distributed in the nation to date, according to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. 86.4% of the titles delivered were in Schedule V States. 56 percent of the total number of titles distributed are split between the States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha.
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