Tribal leaders urge govt. to utilise community forest rights

A group of tribal leaders under the banner of Thampu, a non-governmental organisation working for tribal education, development and research in Attappady, have appealed to the government and the tribal community to make use of the community forest rights (CFR) envisioned in the Forest Rights Act to ward off the recurring natural disasters taking place in Kerala.

The Thampu delegation led by its chairman Rajendra Prasad met Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes O.R. Kelu recently and held discussions about effective use of the provisions given the Forest Rights Act.

They demanded that the possession documents of the five to 10 cents of land distributed in 2008-10 period under the Forest Rights Act in Wayanad be revoked, and new applications be accepted. Community forest rights should be given utmost importance in Wayanad, which witnessed one of the deadliest landslides of the century on July 30, they said.

“The plight of the people of Wayanad, particularly that of the tribal community there, is a direct result of the rampant depletion of forest land, hill levelling, and incessant rainfall,” pointed out the memorandum.

Mr. Prasad said that forest cover in Wayanad’s Vaithiri taluk had decreased to 30%. “Implementation of community forest rights with special focus on tribal zones is the only way out to address this depletion of forest cover. We can address the survival problems of the tribespeople only through protecting and conserving the forest land,” he said.

FRA protection committee convener K.A. Ramu, tribal women collective leader from Attappady Lakshmi Unnikrishnan, and young primitive Kurumba tribal leader K. Panali accompanied Mr. Prasad.

They said the CFR sketch was being prepared by forest officials at many places; but it should be done by the forest rights committees (FRC) and the Forest department should empower the committees for that.

They demanded that FRCs play their role in several areas in the State. “CFR is sanctioned without even seeking an application at several places. If someone challenges it legally, it will be cancelled,” they said, adding that the tribespeople were being denied their rights in effect.

“The CFR should be effectively utilised for better implementation of the Forest Rights Act. The government should launch a campaign for it, and thus it can uplift a community from its poor conditions,” said Ms. Lakshmi.

The Minister reportedly assured them that efforts would be made to implement their demands.

Published - November 28, 2024 08:55 pm IST