Bhubaneswar: Odisha becomes the leading state in the country to have approved five habitat rights to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) under Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) in different districts during the current year.
With Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi harping on providing rights to the PVTGs and Minister ST SC Development, Nityanand Gond speeding up the process, Bishnupada Sethi is implementing the program, Odisha is leading from the front in this regard.
According to officials, Odisha houses 13 PVTGs – highest among all the States and Union Territories of India. Each of the PVTG communities has its own unique identity and culture reflected in their respective social, economic, political and religious systems.
Paudi Bhuyan of Deogarh district was the first PVTG to receive habitat rights title in Odisha on March 7, 2024. Habitat rights of Paudi Bhuyan has been recognized over 32 villages under Barkote block.
The habitat rights of Juang PVTGs of Jajpur district was approved by the District Level Committee on August 6, 2024. Habitat rights of Juangs in Jajpur district has been recognised covering 13 villages under Sukinda block.
Similarly, on August 7 this year, the habitat rights of Juang PVTGs of Keonjhar district was approved by the District Level Committee. Habitat rights for Juangs in Keonjhar district has been recognized covering 134 across four blocks of mineral-rich Keonjhar district.
The officials said habitat rights have also been accorded to Chuktia Bhunjia PVTGs of Nuapada district on August 29 last. The District Level Committee has approved the proposal, which will benefit 35 villages in Nuapada and Komna blocks.
With the recognition of habitat rights of Saoras, in Gajapati district, on August 31, covering 128 villages in Mohana and R. Udayagiri blocks, Odisha became the leading state in the country to have approved 5 numbers of habitat rights, the maximum in the country, they claimed.
The habitat rights claims of the rest of the PVTG groups are in different stages of approval at SDLC and DLC level, they added.
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, also referred to as the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, is a landmark legislation which vests a number of rights over forestlands to forest dependent ST and other traditional forest dwellers, including individual rights over forest lands, community rights and the rights to protect and manage the Community Forest Resources (CFR area) within the customary boundaries of the village.
The most significant and critical rights mentioned under this Act are the rights over community tenures of habitat and habitation for PVTGs and pre-agricultural communities under section- 3.1 (e) of the Act.
Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA), creates a new paradigm of governance that strengthens and promotes the indigenous knowledge and traditional systems of community forest & biodiversity conservation while securing the rights of the tribal communities (STs) and other forest-dwelling communities.
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI), ST & SC Development Department had undertaken the research study on Determination & Mapping of Habitat Rights of PVTGs under FRA in Odisha and facilitated the process of habitat rights claim filing of the PVTGs, in consultation with the traditional leaders of the each of the PVTG community, district administration, and other key stakeholders.