The Forest Rights Act (FRA) has come as a protector for the forest dwellers of the State in respect of availing of homestead lands and sources of earning livelihoods, viewed noted speakers who gathered at a workshop held here on Wednesday.
Representatives of forest dwellers of 12 districts, including Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Koraput, Sundargarh and Malkangiri, attended the workshop. They stated that forest dwellers have been benefited by implementation of the FRA both individually and collectively.
Speaking on the occasion, former Director of the SC and ST Research Institute Premananda Panda hoped that the FRA would certainly help the forest dwellers to have self respect and livelihood.
The institute’s Special Officer Trilochan Sahu said implementation of the FRA has been a success in the State. A total of 3.52 lakh people and over 5,000 communities have been provided their rights under the act.
Among others, Basundhara’s Tusar Das, former Panchayati Raj Director Karunakar Patnaik, ActionAid’s Ghasiram Panda and CSD’s Manohar Chauhan spoke on the occasion.