Udhampur: Maintaining that real empowerment of Scheduled Tribes and other traditionally forest-dwellers and dependent communities has received renewed institutional impetus after August 2019. MLA Udhampur East Ranbir Singh Pathania today held an interaction with members of the ST community at the far-flung Morha Dak Bangla of Village Gudar, District Udhampur.
The interaction witnessed a large gathering of members of the tribal community.
Addressing the gathering, Pathania said that the tribal communities of Jammu & Kashmir have historically maintained a close relationship with forests and natural resources, with their livelihoods, habitation and traditional practices deeply connected with forest areas.
Recalling the historical period of Maharaja Hari Singh, Pathania said that traditional arrangements and customary access to forest resources had existed for communities dependent upon forests. He said that the relationship between forest-dwelling communities and forests was not a new phenomenon and that their traditional dependence on forest resources had been recognised in different forms during the Dogra rule.
Pathania said that the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA), came into J & K after 5, August 2019, subsequently provided a statutory framework for recognising the rights of eligible Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers. The Act recognises a range of individual and community forest rights, including rights relating to habitation and cultivation, grazing, access to forest produce and community forest-resource management. It also places the Gram Sabha at the centre of the process of determining and recognising forest rights.
He said that the applicability of Central laws to Jammu & Kashmir following the 2019 reorganisation of the erstwhile State brought an important change in the legal and institutional framework governing the rights of tribal and forest-dwelling communities. Pathania termed the implementation of the Forest Rights Act in Jammu & Kashmir an important development for eligible tribal families and traditional forest dwellers.
“The Forest Rights Act is not merely about land; it is about recognising the traditional relationship of forest-dwelling communities with forests and providing them a legal framework for their rights, livelihood and community resources,” Pathania said.
He emphasised that implementation of forest rights has to go hand in hand with forest conservation, sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of ecological balance. He said that the rights of eligible beneficiaries should be determined transparently and in accordance with the provisions of law.
Pathania said that the development agenda of the present dispensation was not confined to urban centres or easily accessible areas but extended to the remotest habitations, particularly those inhabited by tribal communities.
During the visit, MLA Ranbir Singh Pathania also inaugurated the Mansar–Morha Mehta road, providing improved connectivity to the remote area.
The road, constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), has a length of approximately 3.1 kilometres and has been executed at a cost of ₹7.25 crore.
Pathania said that road connectivity is a basic requirement for the socio-economic development of remote and far-flung communities. He said that the newly inaugurated road would facilitate easier access to schools, healthcare facilities, markets, government services and other essential amenities for the residents of the area.
He said that improving connectivity in remote tribal areas would also create better opportunities for economic activity and strengthen the integration of far-flung habitations with the mainstream development process.
MLA reiterated that development of remote areas would remain a priority and that infrastructure projects would continue to be pursued to address the long-standing connectivity and basic infrastructure needs of the people.
The programme was attended by a large number of local residents and community representatives.
Those present included Ashish Sharma, Mandal Pradhan; Mohinder Sharma, Mandal Pradhan; Subhash, former Sarpanch; Shams Din, Ashraf Din, Babu Sin, Nazir, Inayat, Bashir, Inayat, Sharief, Kaka Khajuria; Chhankar Singh; Rajinder Singh; Din Mohammad; Raj Ali; Razaq; Kripal Singh; Baldev Singh, among others.
