Edamalakudi’s Oorukkoottam — assembly of people in the tribal hamlet and officials — arrived at an unusual decision last month: no individual household in the panchayat would individually own forestland as guaranteed by the Forest Rights Act.
Instead, they chose to retain their collective ownership over the extent of forest area, with the right to farm and collect forest resources such as honey, as was granted to the Muthuvan tribe when they got relocated to the area in 1956-57. “Ours is a traditional society where community is placed before individual and ,therefore, the right over land should be for the community, with no partitioning of land for individual owners,” they said.
The resolution was passed unanimously in response to the accusation by the forest officials that the residents of the panchayat were unwilling to accept documents pertaining to their individual right over forestland. But Forest officials say there’s a catch in their contention. “Nobody is going to take away their existing agricultural rights, but there are places where we have a scenario in which a single household has over 25 acres of land in its possession. Going by the Forest Rights Act, the eligibility is for four hectares [10 acres] per family. Nobody wants to forfeit their extra holding,” they say. The tribespeople argue that their right is over the whole forest ecosystem without hampering it and that individual ownership could lead to a scenario of fragmentation of land, if unscrupulous outsiders with an eye on real estate crawled their way in. While officials rule out such a possibility, there’s evidence to the contrary elsewhere in the State, the tribesmen point out.
But the pressing issue, according to Devikulam Subcollector Sriram Venkitaraman who led a team to prepare a blueprint for the panchayat’s ecologically sensitive development and who has just been appointed nodal officer for the project, is to ensure that their produce are procured and marketed to the benefit of the farmers. “Till about 10 years ago, agricultural activity was going on at breakneck speed, with the cultivation of a variety of indigenous foodgrains. Now it is largely restricted to semi-organic cardamom, which is of top quality. If the marketing was through the Girijan Service Society till the 1990s, the Vana Samrakshana Samitis (VSSs) took over the role, but there are complaints that the procurement is not being done effectively. When individual farmers take their produce to markets at Adimali or Munnar, they fall easy prey to exploitation, as the buyers resort to heavy under-quoting. The Girijan Society should be revitalised with a modern managing committee and outlets in major settlements so that the farmers do not suffer,” he says.
Doraiswami, 81, one of the first settlers in the area, laments that agriculture took a hit largely because of mounting attacks from wild animals. “It never used to be this high. Crop destruction by animals is rampant now.” Mr. Venkitaraman thinks that the rise in human-animal conflicts is because of agricultural activity across animal passages and elephant corridors. “This may require them to re-adjust their farmland a bit,” he says.
