New Delhi: Government on Monday said states
have progressed in "varying degrees" in the implementation of
the Forest Rights Act, rejecting claims that some of them have
failed to implement the law in an "effective manner".
In a reply to a written question in Rajya Sabha as to
whether some states have failed to implement the Forest Rights
Act in an "effective manner", Minister of State for Tribal
Affairs Tushar A Choudhary said, "no sir".
"The states have progressed in varying degrees in the
implementation of the Act," he added.
The Minister said that the responsibility of
implementing the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest
Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and vesting
the rights to the beneficiaries under the Act lies with state
governments.
"While the states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan,
Tripura and West Bengal have established the prescribed
structures and procedures, have received a large number of
claims and have started distributing the titles (land deeds),
other states are still to catch up because of various
reasons," Choudhary stated.
He informed the House that more than 24.90 lakh claims
have been filed across the country and more than 5.68 lakh
titles have been distributed among the beneficiaries till
October 31. "More than 43 thousand titles are ready for
distribution," he added.
Ministry has advised the states to ensure completion
of work relating to vesting of forest rights by the year end,
Choudhary stated.
PTI
