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Majority of population in Orissa is dependent on agriculture as primary source of livelihood. But the proportion of recorded private land available for cultivation is much lesser particularly in the tribal areas (for instance, in Gajapati district 88% of land is owned by the Govt, as calculated from District Statistical Handbook and census reports) in comparison to govt. land. On the other hand, the distribution of land holding pattern is also highly skewed in these areas despite specific laws (like the Land Reforms Act, 1960) regulating excess land holding. Inadequate survey & settlement procedures are one of the major factors responsible for such kind of disparity particularly in the hilly areas.
Securing legal ownership over such land occupied by poor forest dwellers and tribal over decades is one of the most important issues confronting these marginalized groups in Orissa. Legislations such as Forest Conservation Act 1980 and their subsequent extension to all kind of land either recorded as forest or having forest growth, has suddenly de-legitimised the rights of these marginalized groups over forestland occupied by them since decades.
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Vasundhara initiated it’s intervention in this context in the year 2003 following the order of Ministry of Environment and Forest(MoEF), GoI on eviction of forestland occupants. The eviction notice was bound to effect large number of poor Tribal /Forest dwellers who though claimed their customary rights over such land and obtained major proportion of their livelihood, had no legal right over them. Keeping the legal and institutional framework in view Vasundhara set it’s course of action to trace the historical process of violation of customary rights of Tribal over land through various forms of governance. Vasundhara was of the view that unless the historical perspective was properly researched and subsequently analysed in the context of prevailing revenue and forest laws, the intervention for policy advocacy could not be strengthened. Hence, research on the issue has been undertaken through sample case studies in Scheduled areas and supporting them with secondary information. Views of academicians, retired govt. officials, Experts are also sought to strengthen the basis and perspective of the study.
Considering the urgency to understand and address the complexity of the issue, Vasundhara has designed to initiate in-depth studies on formal institutional and legal processes involved in de-legitimization of customary rights of Tribal/Forest dwellers and sharing information with other actors which would help in forming the basis for legal intervention for policy changes. |
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