The State government should recognise the decades-old struggle of tribals for their rights and grant pattas to podu cultivators and confer rights on those lands in accordance with the Forest Rights Act-2006, said Congress MLA Anasuya Danasari (Seethakka).
Raising the issue during Question Hour in the Assembly here on Tuesday, she also said thousands of tribals have been cultivating the forest land and they should be given pattas in accordance with the Parliament Act. She recalled that under the chairmanship of late IAS officer S.R. Sankaran, the Rules Committee was formed for granting land and forest rights to tribals. The Act provided that tribals could own five to 15 acres of land. Also, she sought to know how many tribals were given pattas so far.
The Congress MLA said the Forest Department was planting saplings in the forest land that has been under cultivation by tribals. It would not be social justice if the development of one community destroyed the living heritage of another community. A joint survey should be taken up by the Forest, Revenue and Tribal Welfare Departments to give pattas to tribal farmers, she said.
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Minister Indrakaran Reddy, however, clarified that all the programmes were being taken up in accordance with the Parliament Act and tribals were not being evicted from their land. The cut-off date to recognise the forest rights of the tribals and other traditional forest dwellers was set as December 31, 2005. He said so far, 89,956 individual claims have been found ineligible by the Tribal Welfare Department.
He told the House that the District Collectors have been instructed by the Tribal Welfare Department to complete the joint survey by September 30 to check if any non-tribal claimants were in possession of the forest land. The ineligible claims should be processed for rejection through speaking orders by the district-level committees after a joint enquiry.