Chairman DDC Budgam Appeals LG To Implement FRA

Urges to make Tribal Affairs Deptt as Nodal Agency

Budgam- Chairman District Development Council Budgam Nazir Ahmad Khan has appealed Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to implement the Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA) in letter spirit. In an official communication the DDC Chairman has urged LG to make the Tribal Affairs Department as Nodal Agency for FRA implementation in J&K. Pertinently as of now the Forest Department is the nodal agency for implementation of this law in J&K.

“After abrogation of Article 370 the Forest Rights Act 2006 has been extended to J&K with effect from Oct 31^st 2019. Its implementation is going at snail’s pace and instead of the Tribal Affairs Department , the Forest Department has been made the Nodal Agency in J&K for its implementation which goes against the essence of this legislation. In all other states and UTs the Tribal Department is empowered to implement this act.In last more than 2 years only 5 Community Forest Rights have been given in Budgam and mere two Individual Forest Rights provided to some ST families. The cases of Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) are not even taken up in spite of the fact that OTFDs are also supposed to get entitlements under the FRA 2006 “ reads the official letter of DDC Chairman Budgam addressed to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha

Nazir Ahmad Khan said that there is meagre awareness about the Forest Rights Act and has suggested the LG for involvement of NGOs and community based organizations so that people are made aware about their rights under this great piece of legislation. Khan has also raised the issue of non availability of graveyards for the forest dwellers in Nengroo Basti Darwan Tehsil Charar Sharief in district Budgam as they are allegedly not allowed to bury their loved ones on the Govt land which is claimed by the Forest Department. DDC Chairman has requested LG to allocate a piece of land under CFR to the residents of Nengroo Basti Darwan and also allow Gujjars , Chopans and other forest dwellers to repair their damaged Kothas in the coming summer season in upper reaches of Budgam district.

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