BHUBANESWAR: The state government will soon launch ‘Mo Jungle Jami Yojana’ to saturate recognition of rights pertaining to the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and speed up the post-rights recognition activities within the prescribed time frame.
Under the scheme, designed by the ST & SC Development department, it has been decided to constitute forest rights cells at the tehsil and district level with human resources to ensure and assist in the effective implementation of FRA, 2006.
In a letter, additional chief secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department Satyabrata Sahu and commissioner-cum-secretary of ST & SC Development department Roopa Roshan Sahoo have asked all collectors to address critical issues related to the forest rights of the forest dwellers in a campaign mode by constituting forest rights cells at the district level.
Higher officials informed despite the lofty aims of the act and its implementation over the last 15 years, it has come to notice that saturation of the rights recognition process is yet to be achieved. In Odisha, the progress is limited to individual forest rights (IFR) whereas the recognition of community rights (CR) and community forest resources (CFR) rights is lagging.
Besides, the post-recognition issues such as providing livelihood support through a convergence of the schemes of the government, creation of records of rights of the forest land vested with the eligible claimants, conversion of un-surveyed/ forest villages into revenue villages etc. require more systematic interventions. “Keeping these issues in view, the government of Odisha has decided to launch a state sector scheme ‘Mo Jungle Jami Yojana’ to saturate the rights recognition process and speed up the post-rights recognition activities within a prescribed timeframe,” said Sahu.
The state is home to 62 types of tribes, 13 of which are categorised as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). As per the 2011 census, the state is ranked third in terms of Scheduled Tribe population nationally. The tribal population of the state stands at 95,90,756 which constitutes 22.85 per cent of its total population.
Odisha is one of the leading states in the implementation of FRA with a distribution of 4.56 lakhs of IFR titles in the country as of now. However, there still exists a gap between the potential and actual achievement in the rights recognition and the linked development processes. Of nearly 53,845 villages in the state, there are about 32,562 Forest Rights Act potential villages. The estimated potential forest area over which forest rights can be recognised in Odisha is approximately 35,739 sq km.
FRA STATUS
Odisha has so far distributed 4.56 lakhs individual forest rights as far as implementation of FRA is concerned
However, recognition of community rights and community forest resources rights is lagging
Of nearly 53,845 villages, there are 32,562 Forest Rights Act potential villages
Estimated potential forest area over which forest rights can be recognised in Odisha is approximately 35,739 sq km