Protests Force Chhattisgarh Forest Dept to Withdraw ‘Typo-Ridden’ Order On Community Forest Rights

Bengaluru: Statewide protests across at least eight districts on July 1, 2 and 3 forced the Chhattisgarh forest department to withdraw an order regarding the implementation of the community forest rights of tribal and other forest dwellers after it claimed that the forest department would be the “nodal authority” for implementing the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and not the tribal welfare department.

In a statement on Thursday (July 3), principal chief conservator of forests V. Sreenivasa Rao withdrew the order issued on May 15, which said that the forest department would implement actions in land granted to forest dwellers under FRA provisions until the Union government provided model management plans.

Essentially, the forest department would be the nodal agency for the implementation of community forest resource rights and not the tribal welfare department, unlike before.

The order caused a lot of unrest in tribal areas in Chhattisgarh. Protests occurred in at least eight districts as the order was a clear violation of the FRA, forest and tribal rights activist Alok Shukla, convenor of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, told The Wire.

According to the Times of India, thousands of people took part in rallies in districts including Bastar and Surguja on July 1,2 and 3.

On July 3, the forest department withdrew the order.

“Forest minister Kedar Kashyap had ordered the advisory’s withdrawal. The directive, issued on May 15, had stirred intense opposition from tribal communities and civil society groups, who claimed it undermined their legal rights under” the FRA, the Hindustan Times quoted an official statement issued by the forest department on Thursday as saying.

The forest department claimed that the order was meant as a temporary measure until the community-level plans approved by the environment ministry came through.

It also claimed that the assignment of the forest department as the nodal agency for its implementation was a “typographical” error and that the forest department only had the role of coordinating the plans.

“How is that possible?” Shukla asked. “The forest department gave the same order four years ago, how can such a big typographical error be repeated?”

The forest department cannot be the nodal authority; such a move would be a “conflict of interest”, agreed Shukla. That’s because forest departments across the country have traditionally been protectionist, preventing local communities from using or sometimes even entering forest lands in the name of conservation.

However, the law clearly specifies that the gram sabhas can develop their working plans and the forest working plans would be amended accordingly, he added. The sole aim of the order was to prevent the transfer of power of forest governance to the gram sabhas, Shukla said.

“It was only because of the statewide protests that the forest department withdrew the order,” Shukla told The Wire.

Welcoming the withdrawal of the order with the intervention of the forest minister, the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan and the Chhattisgarh Vanadhikar Manch called it a victory of the unity and resistance of people’s organisations and gram sabhas.

In a statement, the local grassroots organisations also expressed concern that the forest department's assumption that gram sabhas cannot scientifically manage their forests could lead to an anti-people, centralised and pro-corporate forest management policy.

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