Patna, Feb. 1: Taking initiative towards implementing the forestland rights act for traditional dwellers of woods, the Bihar government recently empowered 21 Birhor families of Barachatti and Fatehpur blocks of Gaya district with farming rights over the plots they had been cultivating for three generations.

The state government accepted the land claim of the Birhor families according to the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. Admitting their claim, the government gave them the documents pertaining to farming rights a few days ago.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds the charge of forests and environment department, said 652 applications claiming rights over the forestlands in accordance with the provisions of the forest rights act had been submitted in the Gaya district. He said the officials were working overtime for their quick disposal.

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 provides the ownership right over forestland to tribals and traditional forest dwellers provided they prove they have been living in forest for the past three generations. It also allows providing civic amities to traditional forest dwellers.Modi said he would soon convene a meeting of officials concerned to assess the ground realities as far as implementation of the act in Bihar is concerned. “I will issue directives for smooth implementation of the act so that traditional forest dwellers could get ownership rights over the pieces of forestland, the only source of livelihood for such people,” the deputy chief minister said.

His words must be music to the ears of the traditional forest dwellers as performance of Bihar government in implementing the act has been far from satisfactory. Sources in the state forest department said the state had disposed of just 13 claims of traditional forest dwellers till September last year against the 2,179 applications.

The figures appear quite low when one takes into account the fact that the state is home to over a lakh traditional forest dwellers. Majority of them are settled in the districts of West Champaran, Kaimur, Rohtas, Banka, Nawada, Aurangabad, Gaya, Jamui, Munger and a few in Nalanda. Bihar has a little over 6,800sqkm of notified forest area. It is about 7 per cent of the total area of the state.

The sources in the forest department attributed the slow pace of disposal of claims of traditional forest dwellers to the failure in constituting committees at district, subdivision and panchayat levels for settling them.

“Three committees, one each at district, subdivision and panchayat levels, have to be set up in districts having notified forest areas,” said a source.