-- Implementation Of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers {Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and Rules.

Transcription

1 I -- Implementation Of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers {Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and Rules The process documentation details and update in brief for the Maharashtra state are as under: 1. Appointment of a Nodal officer: The Government of Maharashtra appointed Commissioner, Tribal Research and Training Institute, Pune as the Nodal Officer for implementation of the Act vides order dated 2. Status of formation of various Committees: (a) Forest Rights Committee - 13,838 (b) Sub-Divisional Level Committee - 85 (c) District Level Committee - 28 (d) State Level Monitoring Committee Translation of the Act and the Rules into the state language and tribal dialects and distribution to Gram Sabha, FRCs etc.: a) 1.5 lakh copies of the Acts and Rules in English and Marathi have been printed and distributed at various levels. b) The Act and Rules are also translated in the Korku, Gondi, Bhilli, Shilori, Kotli, Noyari, Shilli, Mavachi, and Ahirani dialects and have been circulated. 4. Creation of Awareness about the provision of the Act and the Rules: i. Hon. Chief Minister of Maharashtra took a meeting of his cabinet colleagues, MLAs of tribal districts and Government officials on to spread the message of the need to implement the Act in proper way and awareness speedily as well as publicity among the people. ii. Public meetings were held by the Secretary (Tribal Development), Commissioner (Tribal), Commissioner (TRTI) and other officers on the 14 th, 'April in various parts of the State to generate awareness amongst officials as well as masses. iii. An awareness Campaign utilizing All India Radio services had been initiated in the month of March Eight jingles being broadcasted were in local language in the first phase, which continued up to first week of June. From second -, 123

2 week of June 08 onwards, new jingles based on four prominent folk music forms were broadcasted. From 1 st October 08 onwards spots made to educate the masses on various steps of implementation and related guidelines were being broadcasted through All India Radio. From May 2009 onwards the theme under focus is speedy processing and sustainability issues. iv. Posters indicating the important aspects of the Act have been prepared and are displayed along with the ongoing publicity campaign of tribal schemes, through use of mobile vans all over the state of Maharashtra. v. Publicity of the Act has also been organized by utilizing the services of the Directorate of Field Publicity, Pune (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, GOI) which organizes publicity campaigns on behalf of the Government of India. vi. Publicity of the Act has also being done by putting up well designed and attractive posters on 450 State Road Transport buses plying in the tribal and rural areas. vii. Posters, Banners are also prepared at local levels and street plays are organized at the initiative of District and Sub-Divisional level Committees. viii. Publicity through advertisement in Marathi language in local newspapers is being given from time to time. ix. NGOs, already oriented through workshops organized by the TRTI, are also being associated for awareness creation and Publicity. x. A film titled 'Somache Swapna' [Dream of Soma (a tribal)] has been. prepared in local language and also dubbed in Hindi. The theme of the film is fulfillment of dream of Soma - a tribe, to get right on land under his occupation. It demonstrates duties and responsibilities of various committees, steps to be taken by the claimant, etc... The DVDs have been distributed for screening up to village level. The film was broadcasted in September on Sahyadri channel of Doordarshan also. xi. - The information on all the aspects of Act, its publicity, implementation etc. has been put up on the website of the TRTI both in Marathi and in English. C\Documenls and Settings\Mr.JHA\My Documents'ST _OFD _IMPLMNT _ MONIT\Slalus _reports\progressfra _ EAug09Final.doc I ~ 124..

3 I xii. Using Sahyadri Channel of Door Darshan on 19 th & zo" November, 2008, the Secretary, Tribal Development Department. GoM has given detailed guidance about implementation of the Act. xiii. Further awareness programmes were organized from time to time by the District and Sub Divisional level officials till March xiv. A film "Nave Kshitiz" based on the processing of forest rights cases duly depicting the future planning and implementation of natural resources based development processes for sustainability of forest rights has been procured for distribution by the Maharashtra Tribal Empowerment Society (a subsidiary of TRTI, Pune) to the Gram Sabhas and other stakeholders with the intention of creating awareness as well as for providing them the necessary vision and empowerment related inputs. xv. Two ad films on protection of forests and wildlife resources for sustaining the enjoyment of forest rights are under preparation. 5. Arrangements made for the training of PRI officials, SDLC, DLC members: a) A training-cum-workshop of the Collectors, DCFs, Adl. Tribal commissioners, Project officers of tribal Department and other district level functionaries of tribal districts of Maharashtra was organized in YASHADA, Pune on (82 participants attended). b) Training of Trainers programmes were organized on 14, 15, and16 March 2008 at YASHADA, Pune (67 participants attended) for training the officers of Sub Divisional level of the Districts whose Collectors were provided training inputs on the 4th of _ March c) Instructions have been issued to all the collectors to implement the Act with due emphasis on the capacity building of the Committees and local level institutions under the Act. d) Training material prepared by the TRTI for various levels of target group has been.. circulated to all and also kept on the website for use as and when needed. e) Orientation training was organized for the NGOs working in the tribal areas. In all, about 39 NGOs attended the programme at Pune on The Collectors have been provided with the list of such NGOs so that necessary could be taken in the implementation at the field level. support from them C:\Documents and Seuings\Mr.JHA\My Oocuments\ST OFO IMPLMNT MONIT\Status reports\progressfra EAug09Final.doc!- - -j

4 f) Capacity building programmes are being organized in the districts. All district level officials related to implementation of the Act are attending these programmes. The participants are b~ing guided thoroughly and they benefit through exchange of ideas, experiences, etc. Secretary, TOO and Commissioner, TRTI personally remained present in such district level programmes, to guide the field officers and resolve the issues emerging, if any. g) A total of 340 Master Trainers were trained by TRTI at Nagpur and Aurangabad in the last week of September 08 to train the members of the Forest Rights Committees as well as village level functionaries. They are being utilized by the Districts to train the FRC, local level Government officials and PRI members in a planned manner. The course material for the purpose has also been prepared in Marathi and circulated. h) The total number of trainings organized is 3986 and total number trained by District Committees' initiatives at District and Sub-Divisional levels is 4982 and at village level is 86,001. i) To develop an approach for sustainability of Forest Rights, a workshop was organized on 14th & 15 th November, 2008 at Pune with participation from the Revenue Department, Tribal Department, Forest Department and NGOs. j) Training was imparted on 29 th November, 2008 to District and Sub Divisional Committee Members who joined the committees recently on account of transfers k) The representatives of District and Sub Divisional Level Committee offices were trained for uploading of data in computer on 18 th and 19 th December, 2008 with the assistance of NIC Pune. 1) The member secretaries of District and Sub Divisional committees were trained at Nasik on on speedy implementation and sustainability issues. m) The District and Sub Divisional Level Committee members were given refresher training in Three one day workshops cum training programmes in which Chairman of SLDC committee (SDO), member Secretary and ACF from Forest Department participated on 19 & 20 June,2009 at Pune and 24th June,2009 at Nagpur. n) The District and Sub Divisional Level Committee members were given refresher trainings in Nagpur and Nasik on and respectively. 0) On and , workshops were organized for Sub-Divisional level Committee members in Nagpur and Nasik respectively. C:\Documents and Settings\Mr.JHA \My Documents\ST _OFD _ IMPLMNT _ MONIT\Status_reports\ProgressFRA_EAug09Final.doc I

5 p) Training of Committee members who have joined recently on account of transfers is planned to be organized just after elections in the state. q) Training of BOOs is scheduled to be organized in October end to ensure their active involvement in the process of implementation. 6. Measurement of Forest Land and use of GIS Software :- a) The field level personnel handling GPS machines were trained on 13 th, 15 th, 16 th and 1yth January, 2009 at Pune, Nashik, Thane and Nagpur. The totals of 372 persons were trained. b) The representatives of sub divisional level committee were trained with assistance from NIC on zs" and 29 th January, 2009 at Pune on the subject of uploading of G.P.S. data on computer. A total of 80 persons were trained. c) 314 G.P.S. machines were distributed to 28 districts. Some additional machines have been borrowed from the local Forest Department's offices as and where required to expedite measurement process. d) Refresher training was given the representatives of Sub Divisional Level Committees on 13 th February, 2009 on the subject of Uploading of G.P.X. files on to computer. A total of 32 persons were trained. e) The representatives of District Level Committee were trained on 2yth February, 2009 with help of NIC on uploading Quantum GIS software and using High Resolution _ Satellite Images obtained from National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Hyderabad. secretaries The satellite imageries of respective districts were supplied to the member of the District committees. f) A training of Trouble Shooting was given to the Sub Divisional Level Committee representatives on yth March, 2009 on the subject of Online Transmission of Measurement Reports. More than 31,000 measurements are uploaded and are available online for processing. g) The training on Utilization of Measurement Reports and protocol for the use of G.P.S. generated maps was given to the Sub Divisional Level Committee C:\Documents and Settings\Mr.JHA \My Documents\ST _OFD_ IMPLMt:n _ MONIT\Status_reports\ProgressFRA_ EAug09Final.doc, 127

6 Representatives on 19 th and zo" May, 2009, 21 st and 22 nd May, 2009 and then on 12th June, 2009 at Pune. h) 153 Master Trainers for training the field personnel on G.P.S. machines and Trouble shooting were trained at Pune between 25 th May to 30 th May, i) Refresher training on utilization of measurement reports and protocol for the use of G.P.S generated maps PHASE II was given to representatives, who had attended previous training on 19 to 22 May, A total of 72 people were trained. j) Sub-Divisional Committee members of whole State were given refresher trainings on (19 th, 20 th ) and 24th June at Pune and Nagpur respectively. k) Refresher training was given to representatives of District level verification units on zs" and 26 th June, 2009 at Tribal Research and Training 'Institute, Pune. I) On special request by the Ahmadnagar Forest Division, training was given to 3 District level personnel on QGIS application on m) Apart from measurement by GPS units, about 10,000 plots have been measured through Land Record Department. n) A software with name 'TRTI-VGIS' has been designed in-house to assist the District level verification units to analyze the GPS and digital data with reference to Satellite imageries.' Considering the workload and the need to decide cases fast and with accuracy and confidence, it has been decided to provide this software at the headquarter of the District Collectors. 0) Training module on the handling,of VGIS software has been prepared for the representatives of the Collector offices who are handling geoinformatics. Special training on VGIS has been given to the concerned District level officials on and Implementation and Institutional Support:- i) District Level Committees and Sub Divisional Level Committees have been authorized to engage on contract basis one coordinator and one assistant coordinator. Further every Forest Rights Committee is provided with one person on honorarium basis for providing C:\Documents and Settings\Mr.JHA\My Documents\ST _OFD_IMPLMNT _ MONIT\Status_reports\ProgressFRA_EAug09Final.doc 128

7 .. support in the processing of claim cases. A lumpsum amount of Rs per Gram Sabha IForest Rights Committee is given for' administrative expenses. ii) A Forest Rights Cell has been established in the TRTI, Pune office for overseeing the implementation of the Act. It has a contingent of one chief coordinator, two coordinators, two assistant coordinators, six ministerial staff and 1 peon, all appointed on contract basis. iii) Secretary, TOO and Commissioner, TRTI has been taking regular review meetings at the District level. iv) Three State level Monitoring Committee meetings have been held to review the progress and for issuing guidelines. v) Formats for processing of claim cases have been prepared for the appropriate levels and circulated extensively. They have been made available on TRTI website for downloading as and when required. vi) 4 Proformae have been designed and circulated for easy communication at village level and 8 Registers (2 at village level, 4 at SDO level, and 2 at District Committee level) for maintaining important documentation at various levels have been printed and supplied to the Committees. vii) 5 Formats for monthly and quarterly returns are prescribed and circulated. Returns are called in the same for regular monitoring. viii) SMS alert system has been started from to pursue implementation issues effectively. ix) A thirteen digit unique ID has been allotted to every claimant. The 10 captures District name, Taluka name, Village name and the name of the claimant. The GPS measurement as well as processing of the case is done with the thirteen digit 10 as the reference point. - ix) An online system of monitoring of GPS measurements and other case-processing - related matters is fully functional and the same is used to expedite various steps required for proper implementation of the Act. The system is operationalized through the website of TRTI. x) Use of satellite imageries of and and also Google earth images is being done as one of the evidences. GPS generated polygons pertaining to forest land under forest rights claim are superimposed on the same. The geo-referencing of the imageries has been done in the TRTI itself. This is done by using the TRTI-VGIS software. This helps the District level committee in taking decisions with confidence. xi) Rs crores in and Rs lakhs in (upto Sept 09) have been.. spent on implementation of the Act. I C:\Documents and Settings\Mr.JHA \My Documents\ST _OFD _IMPLMNT _MONIT\Statu~_reports\ProgressFRA _ EAug09Final.doc 129 -

8 xii) A fresh action plan for completion of the process of recognition of forest rights has been prepared and circulated for strict compliance. 8. Formation of Critical Wildlife Habitats: Maharashtra has 5 National Parks and 36 Wild Life Sanctuaries (Protected Area). Out of these the proposals for creation of Critical wildlife Habitat for 12 areas have been received by the State level Committee by June 2009 and the same is under processing. S.No. Protected Area's name S.No. Protected Area's name 1 Nagzira Sanctuary 7 Navegaon National park 2 Tansa Sanctuary 8 Radha Nagri Sanctuary 3 Chandoli National Park 9 Phansad Sanctuary 4 Koyana Sanctuary 10 Karnala Sanctuary 5 Sagareshwar Sanctuary 11 Gyanganga Sanctuary 6 Katepurna Sanctuary 12 PainGanga Sanctuary 9. Present position of formation of the various committees (statement A) 10. Abstractof the claims is as under 1. No. of claims filed at Gram Sabha level: 2,66, No. of claims recommended by the Gram Sabha to SOLC: 36, No. of claims recommended by SOLC to OLC: 4, No. of claims approved by OLC for title: 3, Area under claims finally recognized (Acres) 10, "'''''''''''''''''''''''''''' C:\Documents and SeUings\Mr.JHA \My Documents\ST _OFD _IMPLMNT _ MON1T\Status_reports\Progr.essFRA_ EAug09Final.doc, 130 1