Par panel recommends vesting STs with tenurial rights

A parliamentary panel has recommended amending the existing law to vest Scheduled Tribes residing in forests and other traditional forest dwellers with tenurial and other incidental rights.
The Committee on Petitions on Tribal Affairs and Environment Ministry in its 18th report tabled in Lok Sabha today, has asked the ministries to take its recommendation "seriously" to provide amenities to people in forest areas and reserves besides the provision of special financial package.
"Since the existing provisions of the Act do not specifically provide for explicit and enduring tenurial rights to forest dwellers, the committee would like to reiterate their recommendation to expedite vesting them with tenurial and other incidental rights even if it requires any further amendment to the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forests Rights) Act 2006," the committee, chaired by Bhagat Singh Koshyari, said.

The committee had endorsed vesting the forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers with tenurial and other incidental rights as they were apprehensive that the long-standing insecurity of forced relocation of dwellings amongst these people could be mitigated only when express provisions are made in the Act itself.
Commenting on the recommendation of providing financial package to states where implementation of the Act has been slow, the committee said it was "constrained to note" that its recommendation has not been taken in the right perspective.
"Now that the government has revitalised the concept of sustained development of the tribal people as enshrined in Act ibid, the committee expects that their recommendation for providing amenities to the people in forest areas and reserved forests along with the provision of some special financial package to the states of Uttarakhand and Jharkhand etc would be taken up with all seriousness and in a result-oriented manner," it said.

The committee hoped the Tribal Affairs Ministry would determine the eligibility of genuine forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers to claim forest land in a "justifiable" manner to ensure that the paradoxical interpretation of the relevant sections of the Act ibid does not come in the way of livelihood and food security of these communities.