ANNOUNCEMENTS
In order to ameliorate the livelihood related conditions of the forest dwelling communities viz. Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs), by recognizing their rights including occupational, in forest lands, the Parliament, on December 29, 2006, passed “The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006”, also popularly called FRA, 2006, which became effective from January 01, 2008.
The present study was conducted in Madhya Pradesh, said to be a pioneer in implementation of FRA, with extensive area under forests, large forest dwelling tribal population and diverse agro-ecological zones. The study is an attempt towards assessment of the extent to which the FRA has been able to achieve its major objectives viz. the recognition and vesting of rights and occupation in forest land in forest dwelling STs and OTFDs; and enhancing food and livelihood security of the forest dwelling communities while strengthening the conservation regime of the forests.
The findings revealed that the entire thrust in the State has been on settling Individual Rights (IR). Although, Community Rights (CR) have been recognized but, Community Forest Resources (CFR) under Sec 3(1)(i), are yet to be recognised. There has been great impact on the socio-economic status of FRA beneficiaries through focused interventions by the State. As different welfare schemes of both State and Centre have included FRA title holders as one of the eligible beneficiaries in their schemes, this has helped them in getting benefits under different schemes/projects viz. Kapil Dhara, Bhoomi Shilp, supply of improved seeds, crop loans, PM Aawas Yojna (PMAY), Ujjawala Yojna, toilets under Swachha Bharat Mission etc. A lot of infra-structural development activities under thirteen different facilities provisioned in Section 3(2) of FRA have also been undertaken. However, the role and responsibilities of forest dwelling communities to strengthen the conservation regime of forest while deriving livelihood and food security from forest, as envisaged in the Act was not visible on the ground because, neither State nor GS/ communities were found interested on ensuring this vital role.
Overall, the twin objectives of FRA are: (i) recognizing and vesting the forest rights and occupation in forest land in forest dwellings STs and OTFDs; and (ii) the responsibility and authority for sustainable use and conservation bio-diversity and maintenance ecological balance. While, the first objective seems to be largely addressed and fulfilled in Madhya Pradesh, the desired results envisaged in the second objective are not at all visible on the ground. Needless to mention, the sustainability of forest eco-system remains an essential component of environmental conservation efforts and any degradation of forests has an adverse bearing on the entire ecosystem, of which forest dependent communities are an integral part.
