Shimla
An important meeting was held today in the Deputy Commissioner’s office under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Shimla Anupam Kashyap regarding the effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006. The objective of the meeting was to review the departmental coordination and implementation process to ensure the rights of eligible persons and communities under the Act.
In the meeting, the provisions made for the Scheduled Tribes, forest dwellers, and other traditional forest dwellers under the Forest Rights Act were discussed in detail.
Addressing the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner said that the Forest Rights Act is a historic step to provide rights over land and forest resources to scheduled tribes and other forest-dependent communities traditionally residing in forests. He directed the concerned officials to make the process of investigation of claims, role of gram sabhas, and verification of records transparent so that eligible beneficiaries can get their rights. On this occasion, forest rights committees were also discussed in detail. The Deputy Commissioner said that under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, forest rights committees are formed whose main function is to recognize and implement the rights of scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers living on forest land and resources.
During the meeting, the concerned officers gave detailed information on the status of implementation of the Act by their respective departments, challenges and future action plan. The Deputy Commissioner also directed all the departments to work in coordination with each other and run special campaigns to increase awareness at the village level.
