Naveen stresses on improving productivity of tribal land

New Delhi, Nov 4 : Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said it might not be enough to only confer legal rights to the tribals over land and suggested that steps should be initiated to provide irrigation facilities and improve productivity by dovetailing various programmes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

He was addressing the Conference of Chief Ministers, State Ministers (Tribal/Social Welfare and Forest departments) on 'Implementation status of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006' that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the National Agriculture Science Centre here.

He informed the gathering that his Government had constituted a Watershed Mission to improve the productivity of rainfed lands and urged the Centre to support this programme so that it could be extended to the development of the lands being settled with the tribals.

Giving details about the state's tribes, the Chief Minister said the Scheduled Tribes constitute almost a quarter of the total population of the State and Orissa has the unique distinction of having 62 different types of Scheduled Tribe communities and 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs).

He said his Government has undertaken several steps to ensure all-round development of the Scheduled Tribes (including the PTGs).

These initiatives include setting up of 1,004 ST Girls' Hostels, enhancement of scholarship for ST students, establishment of 19 educational complexes in micro project areas for promotion of girls' education among the PTGs, establishment of one BEd Training College in Kandhamal, setting up of 11 Ekalavya Model Residential Schools.

He said the State Government is also committed to establish another 5,000 ST Girls' Hostels over a period of five years to provide residential facilities to five lakh ST girls.

The Chief Minister further mentioned that after the promulgation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights Act), 2006, the Orissa Government had taken pro-active measures to settle the land rights (both individual and community) in favour of the Tribals and other forest dwellers which they had been occupying/enjoying for ages without any legal record of rights.

After vacation of the Stay Order of the Orissa High Court on the distribution of Certificates of Title on August 12 this year, the State Government has been implementing the Act on a Mission mode, he informed.

He said substantial progress has been made on implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and about 2.64 lakh cases have already been verified out of more than three lakh cases filed by the tribals with the Forest Rights Committees (FRCs) as on October 31.

He further informed that the Gram Sabhas have approved about two lakh cases, out of which the Sub Divisional Level Committees have already approved 72,000.

The District Level Committees have approved about 68,000 cases, of which Certificates of Title have been distributed to more than 55,000. About 4,000 Certificates of Title have been distributed among the PTGs out of about 16,000 PTG families in the State.

--UNI

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