Ensure adherence to law protecting forest-dwelling communities from eviction, Centre tells states
This came after villagers living inside tiger reserves in three states alleged pressure to vacate their ancestral lands, in violation of the Forest Rights Act.
The Union government has told states to create a mechanism to ensure that the Forest Rights Act is adhered to and a grievance redressal mechanism is set up, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs wrote a letter to states on January 10 after getting complaints from villages located inside tiger reserves in at least three states – Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal – that residents were being pressured to vacate ancestral lands notwithstanding their rights under the Forest Rights Act and Wildlife Protection Act.
The Centre asked state tribal development and forest departments for a report stating the number of villages in tiger reserves, the tribes and forest-dwelling communities who live there, and details about forest rights claims received, accepted and rejected.
The Union government also asked states to explain the process that they followed to seek consent for eviction, and the compensation they paid to villagers, The Indian Express reported
The tribal affairs ministry noted that the Forest Rights Act protects forest-dwelling communities from unlawful evictions, and requires that any resettlement must be carried out only with their informed consent.
In Madhya Pradesh alone, the ministry received complaints from 52 villages within the state’s Durgavati Tiger Reserve, The Indian Express reported on January 5, prompting directions to the state government to resolve the matter.
Down to Earth reported in September that nearly 4 lakh Adivasis have been affected by forced evictions in major tiger reserves such as Nagarhole, Kaziranga, Udanti-Sitanadi, Rajaji, and Indravati.
In June, the National Tiger Conservation Authority asked state forest departments in 19 states to “prioritise” removing Adivasis living in 591 villages within the core areas of tiger reserves.
The “core zone” in a tiger reserve is the area where tribal settlement is prohibited, and activities like hunting and gathering forest produce are banned. Surrounding the core zone is the buffer zone, a concentric area where these restrictions are relaxed but still regulated.
According to 2019 data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, 56,247 families have been evicted from 751 villages across 50 tiger reserves since 1972.
