Govt mulls amending rules to ease granting of land titles to forest-dwellers

Forest-dweller files his claim for land title to gram sabha which after examining it, refers to Sub-Divisional Level Committee

To ease the process of granting land titles to forest-dwellers, the government is mulling reducing the strength of quorum for gram sabha meetings that consider the claims of villagers for land deeds under the Forest Rights Act.

As per the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Rules, 50 per cent of members of a gram sabha should be present to form the quorum for hearing such claims.

"It is often difficult to form the quorum, which in turn delays the process of granting forest land to villagers on which they are traditionally dependent. Also, in the process, genuine claimants suffer. So it was strongly felt that the strength of quorum should be reduced," a senior Tribal Affairs Ministry official said.

When the rules were framed in 2007, the requirement of quorum was two-thirds of all members of the gram sabha. As such quorum was often difficult to meet, in September 2012, the rule was amended to reduce the quorum strength to 50 per cent of members.

Under the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, traditional forest dwellers make claims for forest rights to get the title of the land on which they are dependent.

As per the rules, a forest-dweller files his claim for land title to the gram sabha which after examining it, if found authentic, refers to the Sub-Divisional Level Committee (SDLC).

The SDLC further ascertains the veracity of the claims. The functions of the SDLC also include hearing petitions from persons, state agencies, aggrieved by the resolutions of the gram sabhas, raise awareness among forest-dwellers about the objectives and procedures laid down under the Act and in the rules.

It also ensures that the gram sabha meetings are conducted in free, open and fair manner with requisite quorum.

The SDLC then refers it to the District Level Committee which considers and finally approve the claims.