Bhubaneswar: As a historic move, Odisha has become a leading state in the entire nation to accord Habitat Rights to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) under the Forest Rights Act (FRA).
With the recognition of the Habitat Rights of Juangs, in Keonjhar district on August 7 by the District Level Committee (DLC), Odisha has become a forerunner with three Habitat Rights recognized for the PVTGs, the maximum in India. Earlier on August 6, 2024, the Habitat Rights of Juang PVTG community of Jajpur district was approved by the respective DLC.
Paudi Bhuyan of Deogarh district was the first PVTG community in the State to receive the Habitat Rights title on March 7, 2024. While Habitat Rights of Paudi Bhuyan has been recognised over 32 villages under Barkote block, Habitat Rights of Juangs in Jajpur district has been recognised as covering 13 villages under Sukinda block and Habitat Rights for Juangs in Keonjhar district has been recognized as covering 134 villages across four blocks.
WHAT IT MEANS:
PVTGs have been the stewards of their ancestral lands for generations, practising sustainable living and preserving their rich cultural heritage. This approval not only affirms their rights but also reinforces the importance of respecting and upholding the traditions and lifestyles of indigenous populations. Recognition of Habitat Rights under FRA is a significant step in recognizing and safeguarding the rights of indigenous communities.
So, the Juangs of Keonjhar will become the sixth such title awarded in India under the category along with the Juangs of Jajpur, Paudi Bhuyans of Deogarh in Odisha and Bharia PVTG in Madhya Pradesh and Kamar PVTG and Baiga PVTG in Chhattisgarh, having legal title and rights over their forest habitats.
Minister ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Nityananda Gond expressing his happiness over the development, said, “Our pro-people government is always there to see the overall development of the tribal communities and especially the PVTGs and with this Habitat Rights recognition this will be more defined and concrete.”
HABITAT RIGHTS & FRA:
Habitat for the PVTGs refers to an area where these communities have both spiritual and material connections. Spiritual connection implies an area which is important to fulfil the socio-cultural needs of the community. This area includes burial grounds, birthplaces, temples, deities, ancestral lands, or areas used for any other socio-cultural purposes, such as festivals and processions. This area also includes places of customary land use for livelihood generation such as forest produce collection, fishing sources, cultivation areas, and seasonal migratory lands.
Habitat Rights under FRA can be defined as a bundle of rights comprising of these connections with the landscape: livelihood, social, and cultural practices embedded in the territory that forms their habitat.
The meaning of “Habitat” under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 of Section 2 (H) defines that, habitat includes the area comprising the customary habitat and such other habitats in reserved forests and protected forests of Primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities and other forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes’. The habitat includes the places where tribal and other traditional forest dwellers have ancient connections in spiritual, cultural, social and livelihood matters.
PVTG SCENARIO IN ODISHA:
Odisha houses 13 PVTGs – the highest among all the States and Union Territories of India. The PVTGs inhabit in 1,683 villages/settlements distributed in 285 gram panchayats (GPs) under 42 blocks and 14 districts of Odisha. There are as many as 1,79,742 households with a total population of 7,73,092. All 13 PVTGs have different socio-cultural and socio-political significances and different habitat aspects.
SC, ST Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI), Bhubaneswar, has undertaken the research study on Determination and Mapping of Habitat Rights of PVTGs under FRA across Odisha wherein Habitat Rights mapping for all 13 PVTGs have been done. Under the guidance of SCSTRTI and with the support of partner NGO Vasundhara, the process of Habitat Rights determination and claim-making was done by the traditional institutions of each of the PVTGs.
Out of the 13 PVTGs, the Habitat Rights claims for 9 PVTGs across 14 micro-projects have been submitted at Sub-Division Level Committees (SDLC) and are at various stages of approval at SDLC and DLC.
A series of awareness camps and meetings on FRA provisions and Habitat Rights for the traditional leaders of the PVTG communities in various regions were organized by the study team. Consultations with district-level officials, the nodal officer of implementation of FRA, PVTG traditional leaders and the local NGOs were done on the process of the Habitat Rights claim-making process.
Commissioner-cum-Secretary ST, SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Department Roopa Roshan Sahoo said, “The Habitat Rights for PVTG communities is a remarkable achievement and we would be planning for more as a major chunk of our State’s population (around 23 per cent) are tribals. Our efforts will be more focused on the welfare of these communities and especially for the PVTGs, across the State.”
