Working on evicting 27k forest dwellers as per SC order: Forest dept
Naresh Mitra | TNN | Feb 23, 2019, 04:48 ISTGuwahati: Forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya said the forest department is working on implementation of the Supreme Court order that has directed the state government to evict persons whose claims under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) have been rejected.
“We are seriously pursuing the Supreme Court order on eviction. Our department has been carrying out eviction from forest areas which were encroached,” Suklabaidya said.
Over 27,000 forest dwellers in Assam face eviction after their claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or the Forests Rights Act (FRA) were rejected by the forest department. In an order on February 13, the apex court directed Assam, along with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telengana,Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, to ensure eviction of those people from forest areas whose claims under the FRA have been rejected.
On whether the government is working on their rehabilitation as well, Suklabaidya said the government is exploring options.
“Persons whose claims are rejected are not entitled for facilities under the FRA. We are looking into all options on the question of rehabilitation,” Suklabaidya said.
According to the affidavit filed by the state government, out of the total 74,364 scheduled tribe and 1,9,966 other traditional forest dweller (OTFD) claims submitted under FRA, the government rejected the claims of 22,398 scheduled tribe and 5,136 OTFD. The total extent of land claimed by scheduled tribes is 10, 128 hectares and by OTFD is 561.4 hectares.
“Steps have already been taken for eviction of all the encroachers/claimants whose claims have been rejected. The total extent of area to be evicted has been accessed and will be submitted within a short period of time,” the state government submitted to the Supreme Court.
“We are seriously pursuing the Supreme Court order on eviction. Our department has been carrying out eviction from forest areas which were encroached,” Suklabaidya said.
Over 27,000 forest dwellers in Assam face eviction after their claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or the Forests Rights Act (FRA) were rejected by the forest department. In an order on February 13, the apex court directed Assam, along with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telengana,Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, to ensure eviction of those people from forest areas whose claims under the FRA have been rejected.
On whether the government is working on their rehabilitation as well, Suklabaidya said the government is exploring options.
“Persons whose claims are rejected are not entitled for facilities under the FRA. We are looking into all options on the question of rehabilitation,” Suklabaidya said.
According to the affidavit filed by the state government, out of the total 74,364 scheduled tribe and 1,9,966 other traditional forest dweller (OTFD) claims submitted under FRA, the government rejected the claims of 22,398 scheduled tribe and 5,136 OTFD. The total extent of land claimed by scheduled tribes is 10, 128 hectares and by OTFD is 561.4 hectares.
“Steps have already been taken for eviction of all the encroachers/claimants whose claims have been rejected. The total extent of area to be evicted has been accessed and will be submitted within a short period of time,” the state government submitted to the Supreme Court.
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