Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday launched the Abu Vir Dishom campaign to provide forest rights lease (pattas) to forest-dwellers tribals and other people under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The Chief Minister kicked off the campaign by playing traditional drums.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that no attention was given to give forest rights lease to the forest dwellers. He Deputy Commissioners and District Forest Officers responsible asking them to make the campaign successful.
Chief Minister Soren said that Jharkhand has 30% forest area. If we look at forests and bushes together, it is close to 50%. 80% of the people here are dependent on farming. Only 20% of the people are in markets and cities, the rest earn their living through farming. “I feel that if any work is decided by all of you officers today, it is not possible that it will not be completed. Even after so many years of separation of Jharkhand, we have not paid attention to the seriousness of the provisions of the Forest Rights Act,” said the CM. The Chief Minister said that if we had not paid attention to this campaign today, there would have been no need to discuss the Forest Rights Act after a few years, because an attempt was made to completely shelve such a serious issue. Now our government has a special focus on forest patta distribution under the 'Abua Vir Abua Dishome Campaign'.
Chief Minister Soren said that the geography of this state and the ongoing development activities within this state will create a situation of conflict with each other in the coming days. At present, coal is being extracted even in cultivable land. If not today then tomorrow that mineral wealth will be exhausted. Mining companies will extract mineral wealth and leave it in a state that is difficult to explain. The Chief Minister said that 'Abua Bir Abua Dishome Campaign' will also be thoroughly reviewed from time to time. Therefore, work has to be done paying special attention to this subject.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that the tribal society never harms trees because it knows that this is its life. The Chief Minister urged all the officers to make their office premises and residential premises green by planting trees. Chief Minister said that if the campaign of granting forest patta is not saturated, then some mafia people will again enter the forests and cut trees indiscriminately. If all of us accomplish the objective of the campaign by making a strong action plan, then in the coming time, the people living in the forests, who are currently seen as encroachers, will not be seen as encroachers.
The Chief Minister said that we are facing the brunt of encroachment in the city. It is not possible to stop this in the city but in the village we can stop this work even today. By giving people their rights and entitlements. The Chief Minister said that as far as awareness is concerned, there is no dearth of it among the tribals and forest dwellers here. What is lacking is the will power of the people working within the system. We have plenty of solutions to delay work in our working style, but we start sweating over how to find a way out. Don't know why this happens. The Chief Minister said that all of you should consider the challenge of the government as a mission and move forward. Our government wants to create such a system through this campaign so that its impact will be visible in the times to come. If we work with commitment under this campaign today, the results will be better after 10 years.
Besides, for the successful implementation of Abua Bir Dishom campaign, a mobile application and website have also been prepared, so that individual, community and community forest resource forest rights lease can be provided to the tribals and people dependent on forests.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister launched the mobile app and website prepared for this campaign. Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh said that it is worrying that in the 17 years since the implementation of the Act, only 60 thousand people have been given pattas. Community forest rights lease is negligible.
