There is renewed hope for as many as 1.79 lakh families in Karnataka as the Centre, on Wednesday, filed applications on urging the Supreme Court to modify its February 13 order directing the eviction of thousands of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other traditional forest dwellers whose claims for forest land rights have been rejected under the Forest Rights Act of 2006.
In Karnataka, nearly 1.76 lakh families are looking at an uncertain future following the recent Supreme Court order. The order, which has to be implemented by July 24, 2019, has also brought conservationists and human rights activists on a collision course though both concur that illegal claims should not be entertained.
The FRA was enacted in 2006 and was meant to correct the historical injustice to the tribal and forest dwelling people by recognising their rights over forests apart from the community rights over common property resources.
But Praveen Bhargav of Wildlife First, an NGO advocating conservation and one of the petitioners, said the SC order will not affect genuine claimants. “It is not directed against lakhs of claimants who have been granted titles over nearly 72.23 lakh hectares of forest land as per the September 2018 official statement of Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA). The order is to recover forest land from bogus claimants whose claims stand rejected,” he said.
The original intent and spirit of the Act — to recognise pre-existing forest rights only and meant only for forest dwelling tribals — was diluted by introducing a nebulously worded ‘Other Traditional Forest Dwellers’ (OTFD), who formed the bulk of the claimants which have been rejected, Mr. Bhargav argued.
However, R. Balasubramaniam, founder, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, which is working with displaced and dispossessed forest-based tribes in H.D. Kote, argued that the Forest Department tends to generalise that non-deserving people are applying for rights. “While that may be true to an extent, it does not mean that everybody who is applying is non-deserving,” said Dr. Balasubramaniam.
In Karnataka, there were 48,432 applications submitted by the Scheduled Tribes of which claims of 35,521 applicants was rejected. Out of 2,27,814 claims of Other Forest Dwelling Tribes, 1,41,019 applications were rejected. In Karnataka, the worst affected district is Uttara Kananda where nearly 57,000 applications are rejected. Meanwhile, there is a flurry of activity among the NGOs and the elected representatives of the 10 districts in the State, which will feel the impact of the Supreme Court order.