J’khand CM expresses concern over cancellation of forest rights' applications

Ranchi, Jun 24 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren on Monday expressed concern over alleged cancellation of thousands of applications related to forest rights in the state and asked officials to provide reasons for it.

Speaking at a daylong workshop titled ‘Abua Bir Abua Dishom Abhiyan’ (Empowering Communities—Ensuring Rights Decoding FRA 2006-Justice, Conservation and Challenges) in Ranchi, Soren highlighted the alleged slow progress in implementing the Forest Rights Act, which came into force in 2006.

"It has been 18 years since this Act came into effect, yet we are still far behind in giving titles of forest rights to the families living in the forest areas," he said.

Soren said thousands of applications for forest pattas (titles) have been canceled in various state offices.

"They have to tell people why these applications have been canceled. The state government will take strict action against those officers who deliberately attempted to cancel the applications," he said.

The Chief Minister urged officials to grant the rights forest dwellers deserve, enabling them to lead respectful lives by growing paddy, rabi crops, or forest produce.

He advocated the need to simplify the process of granting titles so that people can benefit from it.

The Abu Bir Abua Dishop campaign was launched in December last year in response to the slow distribution of forest rights in the state.

An official said since the Act's implementation in 2008, around 60,000 Individual Forest Right (IFR) titles and 2,000 Community Forest Right (CFR) titles have been distributed in the state as of December last year.

Out of 32,394 villages in Jharkhand, the government has identified 14,310 potential villages located either near or within forests and is targeting potential title holders from these areas. PTI SAN SAN MNB