www.civilsocietyindia.com,www.civilsocietyonline.com

Rakesh Agrawal
Kalimpong

THE National Forum of Forest Workers and Forest People (NFFPFW) held its committee meeting at Kalimpong, a quaint Himalayan town in North Bengal. Sixty workers from different groups affiliated to the NFFPFW discussed a plan of action for the coming months. The meeting is significant. The historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act was passed by Parliament in December after persistent lobbying by the NFFWFP. But the final Act did not entirely meet with the forum’s expectations.

“Although the Act is a victory for us it is incomplete since it ignored many recommendations put forth by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that were vital to bring justice to those dependent on the forests,” said Ashok Chaudhury, NFFPFW’s outgoing convener said while opening the discussions. All the same, delegates resolved to continue working sincerely to secure a dignified life for forest people.“As the Minister of Tribal Affairs has promised to put all these recommendations into the rules, we have decided to put pressure on the committee charged with finalising rules in three months,” said Munnilal, a worker from Uttarakhand.

For this, posters and pamphlets about the new Forest Rights Act, the rights of the people and the role of the gram sabha are being prepared in Hindi, Oriya, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi and Urdu. The handbook of the new Act is being translated in Hindi for wider circulation.“All this will persuade people to establish gram sabhas where they don’t exist, as in our area,” said Sandhya, a community leader from Sambalpur, Orissa. Armed with Oriya posters, she is ready for the battle.

In some places people have already started abiding by the new Act’s provisions. For example, in the Kaimoor area of UP people have started building huts on disputed land lying between the Forest and Revenue Departments as the Act supports people on this count. The people being harassed by the Forest Department are getting no support from the police. NFFPFW is getting support from unexpected quarters. “We organised a meeting with about 100 district forest officers (DFOs) from UP in Lucknow recently in which judges and lawyers also participated. The DFOs were informed about the Act, and in an open discussion on the issue several prominent judges flayed the DFOs,” said Roma, a community leader from Sonbhadra district. The forum’s community leaders have begun taking stern action against the Forest Department. A beginning has been made in Jharkhand. “We have filed a series of claims in the courts to get back disputed land lying with the Forest Department and in some cases we have been successful,” said Alistair, a community leader from Jharkhand. There may be many legal questions involved in forcing the Forest Department to give people rights on forest land. In many places, it is not clear whether the forest land being claimed is revenue land or village common property. A five-member team of lawyers has been formed to figure out such problems. “Land rights differ in each state, so we will study each land law carefully before providing help to people,” said Ravi Shankar Bhure, a lawyer from Sonbhadra district.

The team will also prepare a manual on the Forest Rights Act and distribute it. “We will organise legal camps and educate people onlegal rights. These people may help others and establish contact with lawyers in various High Courts,” said Ramesh Chandra, a lawyer associated with the Forum. NFFPFW is also putting pressure on the Rule-forming Committee that has 21 members–11 non- officials and 10 officials – by writing memos, letters and presenting cases. It is also meeting them personally. The forum has formed a committee with this objective in mind.