In a another positive development after the conversion of displaced (forest) village Badmul under Chhendipada tehsil of Angul district into a revenue village, the Director, land Records and Survey, Board of Revenue, has sent letters to all the district Collectors asking them to furnish up-to-date status on individual and community claims (tehsil-wise and district-wise) under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) to the Directorate immediately.

The letter from Director UN Malick emphasised on conversion of forest villages into revenue villages under Section 3(i)(h) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers’ for recognition of Forest Rights Act, 2006.

The letter clearly mentioned that the rights of settlement and conversion of all forest villages, old habitations and un-surveyed villages into revenue villages have been recognised as one of the rights of forest dwelling scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and OTFD communities under the FRA.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs had issued comprehensive guidelines in 2013 to Odisha on various aspects of implementation of the act which, inter alia, emphasised on the conversion of forest and un-surveyed villages and old habitations into revenue villages.

The Director sought the cooperation of all Collectors to materialise the FRA provisions.

Forest rights activists throughout the State have welcomed the Board of Revenue initiative and are hopeful that it will ease the process of conversion. They maintained that despite the MoTA guidelines, there is lack of understanding and clarity at the official level to carry out the process of conversion.

Due to this, a number of cases of conversion, though completed at district-level committee, are pending due to delay in the settlement process.

According to Sharachchandra lele, distinguished fellow in Environmental Policy and Governance, Centre for Environment and Development, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, “The Odisha order on forest village conversion is a positive and welcome step in the implementation of the FRA.”

lele also mentioned that conversion of a forest village into revenue village is not enough. The community forest rights (CFR) of the inhabitants of the village are also required, because they are dependent on the forests surrounding their village for their livelihood.