Upland farmers from over eight grama panchayats have come together to launch an intensive public campaign seeking the relocation of the urban offices of senior Forest Department officials to villages, where man-animal conflict and crop loss are on the rise.
The decision to proceed with the campaign was taken following a series of incidents in which Forest officials had locked horns with farmers and charged the latter with encroachment and poaching.
“We are witnessing a peculiar situation where senior Forest officials working from the comfort of their metro offices overlooking farmers’ issues and taking hostile decisions against them. Such officials should shift bases to villages, so that they get to see the actual problems facing farmers,” said Johnson Kulathingal, a farmer organisation leader and coordinator of the campaign.
According to him, the presence of senior officers in rural areas will impel their subordinates to act sensibly when it comes to forest land issues. Mr. Kulathingal said range-level officials were not taking up local issues with the higher-ups with due seriousness, as a result of which, farmers were turning victims of biased actions.
Members of the committee, which was constituted on Saturday, said the office of the Divisional Forest Officer should be shifted to rural areas, as it would improve the functioning of the department in terms of surveillance and conservation activities. Also, senior officers should be accessible to farmers in case of wild animal menace, poaching or disputes over forest land, they said.
In order to take up the demand with the higher authorities and mobilise farmers, committee members hailing from Thiruvambady, Koodaranhi, Pulloorampara and Kodencheri areas have created various social media groups. Nearly 1,000 farmers have already joined the local social media groups to plan local protests.
A farmer attached to the group said there were several incidents where Forest officials had booked innocent farmers on charges of poaching and encroachment. “They consider the official uniform as a tool to suppress farmers instead of understanding their plight. At least senior officials should voluntarily camp in problem areas to study the situation,” he added.
