Jharkhand launches drive to grant land titles under FRA: Why now, challenges

Subject: Polity

Section: Legislation in news

Context:

The Jharkhand government started a special drive, titled Abua Bir Dishom Abhiyan.

Details:

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, grants the rights of self cultivation and habitation, in the form of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) and Community Forest Rights (CFR).
The titles cover areas such as grazing, fishing, access to water bodies, resource access, recognition of customary rights, among others.

About Abua Bir Dishom Abhiyan:

Initiative of: Jharkhand state
Aim: To give land title certificates to individuals and communities under the Forests Rights Act.
Forest Rights Committee (FRC) at the village level and a monitoring committee at the sub-divisional and district levelbwill be formed.
A special Gram Sabha will be held in all the villages, organised by the Panchayat Secretary and Head of each Panchayat, with the instruction that in addition to new claims, the FRCs will also need to consider old pending claims or rejected claims.
Technological partner in this initiative is the Foundation of Ecological Security (IES), with its partner organisationPhia Foundation in Jharkhand. Another partner is the Indian School of Business(ISB).
Challenges:
- Some forest officials view forest dwellers as encroachers.
- Policy implementation at the ground level.
- Lack of police personnel, mainly forest rangers.
- Lack of coordination among bureaucratic hierarchy

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) identify four types of rights:

Title rights: It gives FDST and OTFD the right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares.Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands will be granted.
Use rights: The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.
Relief and development rights: To rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection
Forest management rights: It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.

Source of this article: Indian Express