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During the Monsoon session of the Parliament, Bhupendra Yadav who is the Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, submitted in his written statement, that they have not measured the forest area under dispute.
His answer read, “The disputes regarding forest lands are variable in nature and keep changing depending upon the pace of settlement process, recording of new disputes, demarcation/survey on case-to-case basis etc., by the respective State/UT authorities as per due process of law applicable to the area. As such, the forest area under dispute for the country has not been quantified by the Ministry.”
He also stated that India has a total of 7,67,419 square kilometers of forest land, as surveyed by the India State of Forest Report, 2019. Bhupendra Yadav said that of the recorded forest area in the country, 4,34,853 square kilometer fall under the Reserved Forests category, 2,18,924 square kilometer under the Protected Forests category, and 1,13,642 square kilometer are of unclassed forests.
Reserved Forests are under the direct supervision of the government of India and Protected Forests are looked after by the government, but the forest dwelling communities have limited access to some resources. Unclassed forests are those owned both by the government and the local communities.
The minister also informed the Rajya Sabha that the term ‘forest’ has not been defined by the Centre yet. “The word “forest” is not defined in any Central Forest Act, namely, the Indian Forest Act 1927 (IFA 1927), or the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The Central Government has not laid down any criterion to define forest”, read his answer.
As per the Wasteland Atlas, 2019, published by the Ministry of Rural Development, the total wasteland in the country is 5,57,665.51 square kilometers, the Rajya Sabha was apprised.
While the Centre continues skirting the issue of disputes, at least 212 Adivasis of Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh were attacked and evicted from their homes by a mob that destroyed and stole their property, allegedly with the complicity of the police and local forest authorities. These residents of the Negaon- Jamniya village now live in the open in makeshift tents with no protection against the rain or Covid-19.
The districts of Burhanpur and Khandwa, have in recent years seen a number of instances where Adivasi women and men have been assaulted, forcibly kidnapped and locked up, jailed and brutalized by the Forest Department of the Madhya Pradesh government. These cases are not merely isolated incidents, but a result of the systematic denial of legal and constitutional rights of Adivasis and the consent of the State government in the trampling of the same.
A press conference was co-organised by the Jagruk Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP) on Monday, July 26 to discuss these issues, and raise their voice against just injustices. These are just one of many instances across the country.
In the past, CJP along with AIUFWP has complained to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) about the several atrocities meted out against tribals and forest dwelling communities fighting for their forest rights. For instance, in June last year, the two organisations had approached NHRC against the blatant violation of legal as well as human rights of Van Gujjars of Dehradun at the hands of police and forest officials, who were not only physically assaulted, but also had their shelters destroyed and tortured in custody.
The answer may be read here:
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Organised violence against Adivasis, denial of Forest Rights
MP: 40 Adivasi families illegally evicted amidst a pandemic!
Van Gujjars assaulted by police and forest officials, CJP moves NHRC demanding justice