Tamil Nadu: Farmers need not pay for minor forest produce, says Dharmapuri District Forest Officer
DHARMAPURI: Farmers need not pay for collecting minor forest produce from the forest, said District Forest Officer KV Appala Naidu.
At the grievance meeting conducted by the forest department at the Dharmapuri DFO office on Tuesday farmers demanded the forest department to stop collecting money for minor forest produce, to allow grazing inside the forest and to grant permission to gun down wild boars which are damaging crops. They cited the permission granted by the Kerala government to kill wild boar.
“Before the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, 10 percent revenue after selling minor forest produce were given to village forest committee, and the committee would use the money for the development of tribal people and the community.
After the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, money will not be collected for minor forest produce. But after collecting the produce from the forest, people should show it to the forest department to record it,” explained Naidu. He further said that the forest department didn’t deny permission for grazing cattle inside the forest if the farmer returned with the cattle on the same day.
The permission is denied only when cattle rearers stay inside the forest with cattle. Regarding the permission to gun down wild boar to prevent crop damage, the DFO said Tamil Nadu government is considering it.