493 forest dwellers, tribals get land titles

Udhagamandalam: As many as 493 tribes and forest dwellers were handed over titles for the lands that they had been dwelling in for several years at a function held at Resource Centre for Tribal Culture in Ooty here on Tuesday.

In the first phase of title distribution under the Forest Rights Act, the beneficiaries were selected from four taluks — Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Gudalur — in the Nilgiris.

District collector J Innocent Divya, who distributed the titles to the beneficiaries, said, "The title releasing process is a lengthy one as it involves various stages of approval, starting from village forest committee to district committee. Like individual titles, community titles to the tribes dwelling inside the forest area will also be handed over soon."

Bomman, one of the beneficiaries told TOI, "We have been fighting for our titles for the past several years. Now, we are really happy."

The distribution of land titles under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, or Forest Rights Act, which was enacted in 2006, was delayed due a case pending with the court. The law concerns the rights of forest-dwelling communities to land and other forest related resources.

The collector said the procedure to distribute land titles to others will continue. "My priorities are to safeguard the environment of ecologically fragile district and tribal welfare," she said.

Stating that education was very important in life, Divya asked the tribal people to encourage their children to go to school regularly. She also asked them to build toilets at their houses.

The Nilgiris superintendent of police, Murali Rambha said the district administration would support the good cause of the tribal community. "Nothing comes free in life. We have to strive for our growth," the SP said.

Rajya Sabha MP K R Arjunan, Coonoor MLA Shanthi A Ramu, district forest officers and revenue officials, among others, attended the function.