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Journalism of Courage
In a major step to empower forest dwellers,Jamguda in the tribal dominated Kalahandi district on Sunday became the first village in Orissa and second in the country to exercise its community right to harvest bamboo under the Forest Rights Act.
The official transit passes TP were handed over to the villagers by Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh for selling bamboo that is expected to economically empower the people who for generations depend on forest.
With transit passes given to the gram sabha,the residents of Jamguda are now free to harvest and sell bamboo.
They would no longer be required to wait for governments special permission to sell their forest produce.
With this Jamguda has become first village in Orissa to get official permission for selling minor forest produce like bamboo and kendu leaf. Earlier,Mendha Lekha village in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra had got this facility.
Noting that only two villages in the country had got the facility to exercise the right under FRA in last two years,Ramesh said the process needs to be accelerated.
