Raipur: Much to the cheer of the tribal people of Chhattisgarh state and the tribal rights activists, the Bhupesh Baghel led Government has granted the tribal population to manage forest produce at community level.
The much appreciated move comes in accordance with the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
Chhattisgarh has been one of the few states to recognise individual and community forest rights of the tribal people.
So far, 4,41,000 individual and 46,000 community forest rights have been distributed to the Scheduled Tribes community and other traditional forest dwellers under the new provision, officials revealed.
51,06,000 acres of individual and community forest rights have been distributed to local communities in the state as per the decision, they added.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel takes personal interest and care in quick and effective implementation of the new policy that is designed to render maximum support for the tribal population of the state, they shared.
Baghel distributed 1,300 community forest resource conservation rights of above five lakh hectares among the Gram Sabhas recently.
The beneficiaries are being provided with various facilities like irrigation, manure-seeds, agricultural inputs by the convergence and integration of government-run schemes on their recognized forest lands, the officials elaborated.
Nearly 1.5 lakh beneficiaries have been supported by the government for land levelling and fencing while irrigation facility has been provided for more than 11,000 hectares of land of 41,000 beneficiaries, they informed.
Under the provisions of the Forest Rights Act of 2006, the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dweller have the right to own and dispose minor forest produce besides the right to use water bodies’ products.
