Hundreds of tribals and forest dwellers under the banner of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), Odisha in their traditional cultural attires and wielding weapons on Thursday staged a demonstration here demanding proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA).
The rally was organised on the occasion of completion of 10 years of the FRA, 2006. Tribals came in a procession from Master Canteen Square to the lower PMG, where they protested against the lackadaisical attitude of both the Union and State Governments.
lok Shakti Abhiyan president Prafulla Samantra said, “The Forest Rights Act is a historic step that aims to protect rights of tribals and forest dwellers. The Dongaria Kandhs with their struggle could win against Vedanta and Odisha Government over Niyamgiri Hills in 2013.”
Senior journalist Rabi Das said “The Act not only revives the PESA, Act, 1996 enacted for the scheduled 5th area, but also extends the provisions of PESA to non-scheduled areas empowering the Gram Sabha as Gram Sabha Sarkar to decide its (village’s) own affairs and custodian of its own resources.”
Senior CSD member Pradeep Sahoo said, “In 80 per cent of cases, the IFR titles have been issued without demarcation and verification of the occupied and claimed forest land leading less area. Besides, While no gram sabha rejects any IFR claim, around 1,52,530 ( 1,27,214 of STs and 25,316 of OTFDs) have been arbitrarily rejected in the State by the SDlC officials and all the blame of rejection have been arbitrarily put upon the Gram Sabha. And all the so called CFR titles reported to have been issued in the State are faulty.”
CSD member Anna Kujur raising concern said. “While Odisha Government claims to be No 1 in the country to have recognised highest number of Individual Forest Rights(IFR) titles, the bare reality is that it has used this Act as land distribution scheme for its political gains.”
All CSD members condemned both Central and State Governments for violating the Act.
“The Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoEF) is openly violating the FRA by bringing unconstitutional circular (October 28, 2015) bypassing Gram Sabha’s consent for liner project and privatising forests. Besides, the recent enactment of CAMPA Fund Act, 2016 is an open violation of the authority of Gram Sabha recognised under the FRA,” they said.
later, the CSD submitted a 16-point charter of demands to the State Government.
The important demands include accordance of Gram Sabha Sarkar status to Gram Sabha, demarcation of all the forest lands under actual occupation of the tribals and forest dwellers and issuance of correct IFR titles, dissolution of all VSSs , stopping of evicting and relocating people from sanctuaries without their consents, stopping of royalty collection on minor forest produces like kendu leaves and bamboos and ensure ownership rights of Gram Sabha and forest dwellers over them, identification of all forest and un-surveyed villages falling in the reserve forest area and village status to them, monitoring of violations of the Act in the mining areas, dismissal and withdrawal of all forest offence cases in courts, recognition of habitat rights of all the 13 PVTG/PTGs and protect their areas from encroachment of outsiders and immediate RoR correction after demarcation.