New Delhi: The Center on Tuesday wrote to the states asking the departments of environment and forest and tribal affairs to prepare a strategy. Rural Development Department To ensure extension of benefits under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
Both the ministries have also asked the state governments to appoint a nodal agency for non-timber forest produce, for which a sustainable supply-chain platform needs to be developed. These measures are part of a detailed joint communiqué signed by the Ministries of Forest and Tribal Affairs to enhance coordination on the implementation of Forest Rights Act 2006, to accelerate the grant of individual and community land rights to tribals and other forest dwellers, at the central and state levels.
As on 28 February (available on website) Ministry of Tribal Affairs), 77,502 community forest rights claims have been approved and titles distributed. 19.24 lakhs have also been sanctioned for individual forest rights.
The joint communication states that despite a considerable time elapsed since the enactment of the Act, the process of recognition of rights is yet to be completed. Moreover, the exercise of these rights is also a matter of concern.
Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda Said that this coordination framework will improve the participation of STs and forest dwellers in forest management and ensure that the FRA is implemented “in letter and spirit”. MoEFCC Minister Prakash Javadekar said that joint communication marks a paradigm shift from working in silos to achieving convergence between ministries and departments.
The letter emphasizes that any questions that may require clarification or issues impeding the implementation of the FRA should be brought to the notice of the central government so that both the ministries can take a collective approach.
Ministries have demanded that the frontline staff State Forest Department Assist the institutions and committees established under the FRA to prepare conservation and management plans for community forest resources so that they can be managed in a sustainable and equitable manner for the benefit of forest dwellers.
Both the ministries have also asked the state governments to appoint a nodal agency for non-timber forest produce, for which a sustainable supply-chain platform needs to be developed. These measures are part of a detailed joint communiqué signed by the Ministries of Forest and Tribal Affairs to enhance coordination on the implementation of Forest Rights Act 2006, to accelerate the grant of individual and community land rights to tribals and other forest dwellers, at the central and state levels.
As on 28 February (available on website) Ministry of Tribal Affairs), 77,502 community forest rights claims have been approved and titles distributed. 19.24 lakhs have also been sanctioned for individual forest rights.
The joint communication states that despite a considerable time elapsed since the enactment of the Act, the process of recognition of rights is yet to be completed. Moreover, the exercise of these rights is also a matter of concern.
Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda Said that this coordination framework will improve the participation of STs and forest dwellers in forest management and ensure that the FRA is implemented “in letter and spirit”. MoEFCC Minister Prakash Javadekar said that joint communication marks a paradigm shift from working in silos to achieving convergence between ministries and departments.
The letter emphasizes that any questions that may require clarification or issues impeding the implementation of the FRA should be brought to the notice of the central government so that both the ministries can take a collective approach.
Ministries have demanded that the frontline staff State Forest Department Assist the institutions and committees established under the FRA to prepare conservation and management plans for community forest resources so that they can be managed in a sustainable and equitable manner for the benefit of forest dwellers.
.