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By Ranjan K Panda Tribals living near the Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary in Orissa step up their demand for rights over natural resources, in keeping with the new Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006
Even as the committee appointed by the prime minister’s office deliberated the rules for implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006, its echoes reverberated in the district magistrate’s office in Sambalpur, Orissa. Over 500 tribal residents of the Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary descended on the office demanding immediate grants under the Act to lease land inside the sanctuary. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had pushed for this Act to “undo a historical injustice done to the tribal population of the country”. Badrama is a perfect example of this historic wrong. For generations, people here had rights over the natural resources in their forests. With independence, however, forest resources were brought under the purview of the forest department, and local residents have been waging a fierce battle to re-capture their rights and secure their livelihood. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 comes as a blessing to them. While official sources put the number of villages inside the Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary at 25, non-official sources say they number 72, including revenue villages and some hamlets. “Only we know how we survived with a tyrant forest department and an insecure livelihood. We can’t wait anymore,” says Gokulananda Dani, convenor of the Badrama Wildlife Development Parishad, an association of local residents set up to fight for rights over forest produce. The protesting 500-odd tribals submitted a memorandum asking for immediate transfer of land ownership to local residents. “Non-implementation of the Act is a violation of our human rights,” explains Dani. The story of Badrama’s tribal population goes something like this. The sanctuary, then a reserve forest, used to be under the control of the former state of Bamanda. According to the Bamanda Forest Rule, people living adjacent to the forest had rights to collect minor forest produce like edible roots, leaves, fruits, flowers and grass for bona fide purposes. The law even granted them permission to take up lucrative lac cultivation, especially of kusum trees inside the reserve forest, as well as free bamboo extraction by tenants to meet their domestic needs. Special concessions were given to primitive tribal groups like the Juang, allowing them to collect bamboo free of cost and with no prior permission. There was no restriction on their processing and selling products to earn a livelihood. When the government declared Badrama a wildlife sanctuary, the forest department curtailed people’s rights and access to the forests. As in most cases, women suffered most. Take Sarada panchayat: the region used to be one of the largest kendu leaf producers in the entire state of Orissa. However, all the phadis (the basic operation unit for collection and processing of kendu leaves) were closed in 1999. Interestingly, two new phadis had been opened in 1998, at Pathuria and Tileimal villages, on condition that they produced at least 30 quintals of leaves per year. In 1998, the phadis registered a production of 58 quintals; the next year they touched an all-time high of 72 quintals. Despite the high figures, the phadis were closed in 1999, which meant that the villagers, mostly women, had to trek at least 15 km to deposit their collected leaves at the nearest operating phadi. Also, once the ban on plucking leaves inside the sanctuary came into effect, people were at the mercy of the forest department which charges an entry fee and often asks for undue favours.
It’s the same with bamboo, a major forest produce in the sanctuary. Forest department officials intensified their assault on people who used to thrive on making bamboo products. “They not only try to stop us from cutting bamboo, they also demand a bribe for lifting bamboo from inside the forest,” says a villager. People who have traditionally depended on mahua, another major NTFP (non-timber forest produce) in the area, share a similar fate. Since 2003, the villagers have been barred from collecting mahua from inside the sanctuary. Collection of sal seeds too has drastically declined as a result of the forest department’s stepped-up vigil. Restrictions on access to the forests have caused a serious economic dislocation among the locals. With their only source of income at stake, people often resist forest officials, leading to minor scuffles, sometimes pitched battles. “The continuous denial of access and exploitation by the forest department forced us to take to the streets,” say residents. The problem is especially acute in the case of collection of kendu leaves, bamboo, sal seeds and mahua, as these are mostly available inside the sanctuary. “To enter into our own jungle we are forced to pay an entry fee,” says one woman. Understandably, the residents of Badrama are impatient and apprehensive. “Despite this hardship we have been patient with the forest officials. Nobody would have been able to prevent us from felling trees,” says Dani who asks for immediate implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. But the tribals’ fight is not only with the forest department. Hardcore wildlife conservation organisations like the Wildlife Trust of India have recently declared that they will challenge the Act. “They are armchair activists who have a strong hold on people in power and may, in fact, influence the government -- sooner or later -- not to implement the Act,” says Tushar Dash, an activist. As local residents vow to continue their fight, certain developments in Orissa may have come as a shot in the arm. In a recent move, MLAs cutting across party lines demanded that the Centre organise a meeting of the technical group on the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006, prior to drafting the rules, to discuss specific problems facing the state. (Ranjan K Panda is an Orissa-based researcher and writer) InfoChange News & Features, May 2007
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