Chhattisgarh tops in the country in the implementation of forest rights recognition

Raipur: In Chhattisgarh, the Forest Rights Recognition Act is being implemented effectively and sensitively as per the intention of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

As a result, all the poor and weaker sections including tribals and forest dwellers in the state have got a lot of relief, and their economic condition has also strengthened. This Forest Rights Recognition Certificate is proving to be very important from the point of view of common people's concern as well as rural economy and forest conservation.

In the context of Forest Rights Recognition Certificate in Chhattisgarh, Forest Rights Certificates have been provided to a total of 5 lakh 17 thousand 096 beneficiaries. Chhattisgarh state ranks first in the country in providing Individual Forest Rights Certificates. Under this, help has been provided through many schemes for the overall development of the beneficiaries, with the aim of providing maximum benefits to the beneficiaries through land leveling, development of water resources and clusters.

In this regard, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests V. According to the information received from Srinivas Rao, under the guidance of Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar, the beneficiaries will be given incentives under state public welfare schemes like Mukhyamantri Vriksha Sampada Yojana with buyback guarantee on private land, incentive amount for plantation of other crops instead of paddy to encourage crop diversity. Provisions etc. are also being added. Under this, as a result of land development, agricultural production per beneficiary has increased and many types of income-oriented crops (cash crops) are also being produced in those areas. Due to which livelihood upliftment of the beneficiaries has also been ensured. At the same time, this has brought out direct concern of the public towards forest protection and its positive results are emerging.

Similarly, a total of 46,000 cases have been recognized under Community Forest Rights in the state, which is again the highest in the country. Under this, the people living in the forest areas get various types of rights related to their disposal like rights related to important forest products, fish and other water products and grazing rights, special backward castes and communities, housing rights to farmers, all forest villages, old residential areas, unexplored villages etc. Includes rights to convert into revenue village, etc. Apart from this, the minimum support price of 67 species has been declared for the collection of minor forest produce found in the forest area and this year in Chhattisgarh. Through effective implementation of State Forest Rights Recognition, we have succeeded in collecting 73 percent of the country's minor forest produce.

According to the information received from the Forest and Climate Change Department, a total of 4306 Community Forest Resource Rights Recognition Certificates have been provided in the state. Chhattisgarh state is the first state in the country to grant recognition for the management of forest resource rights, where forest rights certificates have been issued on a large scale, keeping in mind the protection of the rights of forest dwellers. Under this right, the Gram Sabha has been given the right to manage the recognized forest areas. The process of preparing a management plan for the management of the said forests is in progress. For which the stakeholders of about 2000 villages of 19 districts have to prepare a management plan and ensure management by integrating it with the work plan.

In the management plan, all dimensions of management are proposed by conducting all types of surveys for the management of forests with recognized community forest resource rights. Here it is ascertained what kind of plantation or conservation related work can be proposed for maximum benefit on each unit of forest land. A voluntary organization named Foundation for Ecological Security has provided training and exploration of possibilities for increasing processing and income resources in about 700 villages of 19 districts of the state.

Similarly, training on various aspects of advanced agricultural technology and processing has been provided by the organization in 36 villages of 05 districts. Besides, a plan is being prepared for mass planting of local species by integrating the provisions of work planning on vacant sites into the management plan. Under the Community Forest Resources Rights Act, about 106 trainings have been organized in 24 districts of the state, in which a total of 5492 beneficiaries have benefited.