CHENNAI: Most rejections in claims for title deeds under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 in the State are at the Sub Divisional Level Committees (SDLCs), data from the tribal welfare department has shown. The Tribal Welfare Department has now taken up a series of measures to improve approval rates.
The six-member SDLC examines resolutions of grama sabhas and checks the veracity of the claims, and then forwards the claims with the draft record of proposed forest rights to the District Level Committee, which takes a final decision.
“We have taken cognisance of the large number of rejections, especially at the SDLC level, and have planned to raise awareness and improve the approval rate. As the first step, we are conducting a two-day training programme in Tiruchy on Saturday and Sunday for members of village forest committees, members of SDLCs, and district-level committees and others such as revenue officials and forest rangers,” said a senior official of the Tribal Welfare Department. A similar meeting is to follow in Coimbatore, where officials from Western districts will participate.
“This is the first time since the Act that a comprehensive training programme is being conducted. After this, the rejection rates will be closely monitored,” the official added. The high number of rejections at the SDLC, according to S Thanaraj, State coordinator of Ekta Parishad (a people’s movement for land rights), is mainly due to a combination of laxity and lack of awareness.
“The role of SLDCs includes having to extract any required supporting revenue or other government documents to help the applicants’ claim. If they are unable to do that, statements of elders or physical evidence of possession of land can be used. If they are unsatisfied with the applications, they have to write back to the grama sabha with the reasons rather than outrightly rejecting applications,” he said.