The south Goa collectorN D Agarwal has revealed that the scheduled tribes and other traditional forestdwellers act recognizing the forest rights of its traditional dwellers will beimplemented from July 22 in Sanguem, Quepem, Dharbandora and Canacona region inPhase I followed by Salcete and Mormugao in Phase II.
“A gram sabha will beheld in the respective villages of these five Taluka’s with the panchayat secretarypresiding as the Secretary of the Forest Rights Committee. The gram sabha willbe held from July 22 not as a village panchayat but on the basis of the forestdwellers act” said Mr Agarwal.
When asked about the non-implementation of the act during his tenure the former CM,Digambar Kamat said “Theonus was on the then forest minister Filipe Neri to implement the act. Forreasons best known to him, he delayed its implementation. He should be pulledup and not me for the delay.”
PWD Officials includingJesito Rego and Glen Kalavampara of Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Associationclearly pointed out that JICA projects in the past which required the passageof a pipeline through the forest region and the phase II of the mining bypassfrom Gudemol to Capxem needed an approval from the Forest rights Committee priorto which no Ministry of Environment and Forest clearance could be obtained. TheFRC would check if any forest dweller would lose his or her livelihood if aproject spread out of the forest.
The Collector assertedthat the Gram Sabha’s will elect the respective Forest Rights Committee (FRC)of 15 members per village with 1/3rd members from the SchedulesTribes and 1/3rd women. The FRC will receive and acknowledge claimsthat the ST community is dependent on the forest for agriculture and otherpurposes. These claims will be recorded, verified and a map prepared delineatingthe area of each claim.
Once the act isimplemented the timeline set by the collector is a second gram sabha on October23 to approve all claims of cultivation and community rights in the forest. Theclaims will be moved to theSub-Divisional Committee headed by Deputy Collector and the rights papers willdistributed back to the forest dwellers on November 10. There will also be aState Level Committee to scrutinize and overlook the Gram Sabha proceedings andhear grievances of the Forest Dwellers.
