Conversion Offorest Villages into Revenue Villages
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (Forest Rights Act, 2006, in short) provides for conversion of Forest Villages into Revenue Villages as one of the forest rights conferred on forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers. Different State/UT Governments carry out the process of conversion of forest villages to revenue villages as a component of Forest Rights Act, 2006 and they are at different stages of progress. Officials of forest departments of different States are a part of the committees constituted at different levels for the recognition and vesting of forest rights. There is significant increase in community rights title distribution. As on February 28, 2015 as many as 15,32,555 individual titles and 29,898 community titles have been issued. A single community title covers a large geographical area as compared to an individual title and hence these two cannot be compared in percentage terms.
This information was given by Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Samir/jk
