Budheswar Mahato, Jagabandhu Sanda and Rohan Mukerjee
In villages of Gamaria, Seraikela and Chandil blocks of Seraikela-Kharsawan District of Jharkhand Keystone Foundation has been supporting community led forest protection alongside efforts to claim forest rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. In this regard, members of Van Surkasha Samiti (VSS) / Forest Protection Committees (FPCs) and villagers from 7 vilalges – Hatnada, Junglikhas, Kalajhor and Sardabera in Seraikela Block and Rearda, Barsida and Lapaibera in Chandil Block. Despite FRA being in effect since 2006 there implementation especially in Jharkhand has been far from satisfactory with only 2 villages in this area – Udaypur and Kalajhor – having received CFR titles and even they still have some issues with regards to the extent of areas to which they have been granted rights. With little initiative from the District Administration to facilitate implementation of the Act and granting of rights, especially Community Forest Rights (CFR) the onus is now on the villagers themselves and Gram Sabhas in particular to take advantage of the provisions of FRA to safeguard and secure their precious forests against and protect them from potential changes in ownership and diversion for other uses.
The training programme conducted on 22nd June in Hatnada village, brought together 26 participants most of whom were members of VSS / FPCs of 6 villages and have been working for protection and conservation of their forests for several years. The training was chaired by CRP Budheswar Mahato from Hatnada with resource person Bablu Murmu from Charakpathar village near Sini conducting the training. Bablu has many years of experience in the Development sector and he fondly remembered his days in SEEDS where he worked alongside Jagabandhu Sanda. Since then, he has focused considerably on empowering communities to understand and claim their forest rights having worked closely with Jungle Bachao Andolan across Jharkhand as well as other parts of India. He recalled have conducted an awareness program on FRA last here in Hatnada itself also facilitated by Keystone Foundation and lamented the limited progress with regards to making claims since then. So Bablu pointed out that today their would be no Bhasan baji / speeches and instead the focus would be on work and how to ensure that the work gets done. Bablu asked the participants if Forest Rights Committees (FRCs) were place in their villages, and they shared that while a start has been made to form FRCs in a few villages like Reyarda they are not sure that the committees meet the requirements as laid out in the FRA. Bablu provided a brief outline of the process for claiming forest rights and CFR in particular covering the role of the Gram Sabha, the formation of the FRC, which is responsible for processing claims at the village level which after which they are submitted to and reviewed by the Sub-Divisional Level Committees (SDLCs) and approved by District Level Committees (DLCs). He also covered the composition of FRCs emphasising the role of women and how FRA mandates that at least 1/3 of FRC members should be women.
Bablu then shared copies of the CFR claim forms and divided the participants into groups as per the villages they came for and got them to go through the forms and requirements in detail. Participants took turns to read different sections of the forms aloud and Bablu explained the different points and requirements clarifying all doubts of the participants.
The importance of fostering understanding among adjoining villages especially with regards to common boundaries was discussed in detail with many participants pointing out challenges they face with respect to lack of clearly defined boundaries on the ground with adjoining villages. While several villagers suggested cutting clear boundaries Bablu empasised the value and importance of trees and said that rather than felling trees to mark boundaries they should use stones and boulders to mark the boundaries. But more than this there should be mutual understanding and acceptance among members of adjoining villages regarding their common boundaries.
One of the positives of this area with respect to making CFR claims was that the forests have been demarcated and all the villages are in possession of detailed maps which include forest areas. The participants had brought maps of their respective villages and Bablu went through the maps with them and showed them how to use tracing paper to make copies of their maps for the CFR claims. An interesting feature of the maps was since they have not been reissued they still give the district as Singhbhum which was the undivided district before the formation of Seraikela-Kharsawan and other adjoining districts.
One of the shortcomings of the meeting was the absence of women and Bablu and the Keystone Foundation team highlighted this and emphasized that women are equal beneficiaries of the forest rights and should be part of the process for claiming CFR titles right from the beginning. The participants shared that they have women members in their VSS and would also ensure adequate women membership of FRCs and strive to foster their adequate participation in the processes for claiming rights.
In order to ensure that the process of claiming CFR titles is not once again put on the back burner all participants committed to get all initial documents and information ready by the following Sunday after which they will have another joint meeting to assess progress and address challenges.
In addition to covering issues pertaining to Forest Rights and CFR claims the meeting also involved a discussion around status of forests and potential for restoration activities. Jagabandhu Sanda (Consultant, Eastern India Initiative) facilitated a discussion on the tree and plant species that have reduced both in forest and habitation areas. Around 19 trees and plants in forest areas and 9 in habitation areas were felt to have reduced considerably. With regards to forest trees it is worth noting that the reduction in certain tree and plant species was in some cases area specific with for instance a particular tree having become rare in Chandil block but still being abundant in the forests of Seraikela block. The participants acknowledged the need to promote revival of trees and plants that have been disappearing from their areas and felt that initiatives like village nurseries and community restoration activities could be good strategies to address these issues and pledged their support to plan and implement these initiatives in the area. Initially the establishment of 2 nurseries – one in Sardabera and another in Lapaibera – are being explored and discussions with respective Gram Sabhas and VSSs are underway.
