‘Violence,lack of development are interlinked’

He said the forest departments should be revamped to include economists and anthropologists too,and that the departments should be “mandated to cooperate with the Gram Panchayats” located on the forest fringes.

“We need a workforce of economists,anthropologists,hydrologists and many other academicians. Today,we only have foresters,” Singh said,adding that this will “seed new perspectives,ideas and practices in an otherwise close and in-bred organisation.”

He quoted figures from a 2006 report by the National Forest Commission which showed 37.2 per cent of the country’s population living below the poverty line and over 14 per cent in the vicinity of the forests.

He said “The increasing influence of Left-wing extremism in these areas has added a new urgency to the creation of livelihood opportunities and enhanced civic engagement.”

Singh stressed on a transition from joint forest management to integrated natural resource management,which would be possible “only if line departments are mandated to cooperate with the gram panchayats and gram sabhas with clearly defined responsibilities”.

“Centrally-sponsored schemes,which provide financial resources under the ambit of panchayat,are implemented through different government departments,” Singh said.

He outlined a two-phase strategy to achieve this. First,transfer revenue land like forests,grazing land and water bodies to gram panchayats. Secondly,once panchayats prove they can manage the revenue land,transfer the forestland in and around the area,to be jointly managed by the village body and the forest departments.