Hundreds of villagers under the banner of Himachal Kisan Sabha on Tuesday staged a 24 hour dharna-demonstration outside the office of Principal Chief Conservator of Forest demanding the timber distribution rights.
State Kisan Sabha president Dr Kuldip Tanwar has alleged that top forest officials are insensitive and not empathetic towards the demand of farmers and their forest rights.
The Government on the one hand is giving liberal permission to big corporate companies for unrestrained tree felling and on the other hand curtailing all forest rights of villagers by even denying them timber for the household use on the name of protecting environment. The Government has even snatched the customary rights of village dwellers after taking the excuse of various Courts and environmental policies, he said.
The Kisan Sabha has demanded from top forest officials that why they are being deprived of their genuine claims and their forest based need demands are not met with. The State government officials are still not clear about how the timber would be distributed now to the villagers and where from the extra staff would be deployed in the new TD policy, said the farmers’ union.
The activists sat through the entire night outside the main State Forest Office in the capital town.
