THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major relief to forest dwellers seeking rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), the government has decided to extend the deadline for filing applications seeking land under the FRA to May 30. Addressing the representatives from tribal hamlets at the Kananasangamam on Monday, Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said that so far the government had received 32,000 applications seeking land. Of this, decision has been taken on 25,500 applications.
The Minister assured that decision would be taken in a time-bound manner in the case of rest of the applications also. Thiruvanchoor hoped that by August, Kerala will become the first state in the country to fully implement the Forest Rights Act. “The department will formulate a special cell to take urgent action in this regard,” Thiruvanchoor said. Of the 510 applications seeking community rights under the FRA, decision has been taken on 52 applications. Decision will be taken in the remaining applications also once the district-level reports are received.