The Chhattisgarh government has rolled back an earlier and made the Tribal Affairs department the nodal agency to implement the Forest Rights Act.
Earlier, it had designated the Forest Department as the nodal agency for the implementation of community forest resource rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. “A revised order was issued on Monday. Now, the Forest Department has been entrusted with the responsibility to coordinate with the Tribal Affairs Department in the implementation of the Act,” said Rakesh Chaturvedi, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Chhattisgarh.
Last Saturday, the state government had issued a statement: “Community members will be given community forest rights for the conservation of forests.