Forest land allotment goes hi-tech

T L Patel,Joint Director,Tribal Development Department said: “With satellite imagery,there won’t be any doubt about the land settlements in these forest areas. We have the village-level maps to determine those who were cultivating the lands in these areas for the last 40 years.”

Patel said Gujarat has become the first Indian state to employ satellite imagery along with groundwork to determine the original forest dwellers in the state’s forests.

The effort has,however,not found the support of the tribal bodies. Organisations like Adivasi Mahasabha and Eklavya Sangathan have said that only cultivation agreements have been given to the holders of the land titles.

“The claims under the said Act have been filed by the tribals in thousands during the past several months,but the state government has conferred the so-called rights of cultivation and residence by issuing simple letters to the tribals. This letters have no locus standi in legal terms. The Government of Gujarat is openly cheating the tribals. These letters too have been given to only about eight per cent of the claimants under the Central Act (FRA-2006),” said Usha Garasia,president of the Eklavya Sangathan.

The TDD has,however,contested the claims saying that the government has given lands to the tribal farmers on several occasions.

Additional care have been taken by distributing cultivation and residential permits to avoid land mafia from entering the forest areas as farmers often sell or mortgage their lands.

“Gujarat comes third in the implementation of the Act. Earlier on three occasions,in 1972,1982 and 1992,land titles were distributed. In 1992,32,000 hectares of forestland were allotted and titles distributed to equal number of farmers in the state. Therefore,now while checking the claims,we are more careful in giving land titles as the issue of maintaining a forest cover is also essential. There cannot be anything better than the satellite imageries with ground work to determine the land settlements,” said Patel.

Garasia,however,said that during the recent Garib Kalyan Mela,Chief Minister Narendra Modi issued letters containing so-called rights of cultivation to 14,202 tribal farmers stating that they can cultivate forestland.

In the past,between 1994 and 97,there were surveys conducted to determine the original claimants of the forestland. Sixty-four thousand families were found in the survey,but only 32,000 were given titles. “By indulging in such falsifications,the state government is violating the provision of FRA -2006 Section 8-(H)”,said Garasia.

She said it is stated in the Act that a certified copy of the record of forest rights and title under the Act,as specified in Annexure II & III to these rules,is to be provided to the concerned claimant and the Gram Sabha respectively.