The Forest Rights Act of 2006

The Forest Rights Act (FRA) was enacted to address historical injustices faced by forest-dwelling communities, including both Adivasis and other traditional forest dwellers. The key provisions of the act include:

• Recognition of Rights: The FRA recognizes the rights of forest-dwelling communities to live in and from the forest. This includes individual rights to land that is being cultivated by forest dwellers as of December 13, 2005, and community rights over common property resources.
• Community Rights: The act provides for community rights over non-timber forest products, grazing areas, and fishing grounds, among others.
• Right to Protect and Conserve: Communities have the right to protect, regenerate, conserve, and manage any community forest resource.
• Development Rights: The act allows for the diversion of forest land for the development of community infrastructure and facilities managed by the government, subject to a ceiling of one hectare per project.

Implementation and Challenges

While the FRA holds promise, its implementation has faced numerous challenges:

• Awareness and Bureaucracy: Many Adivasis and other forest dwellers are not fully aware of their rights under the FRA. Additionally, bureaucratic hurdles and resistance from forest department officials have slowed the process.
• Inconsistent Implementation: The implementation has been uneven across different states. Some states have made significant progress, while others lag behind.
• Opposition and Evictions: In some cases, there has been opposition from conservation groups and the forest department, leading to conflicts and even evictions of forest dwellers.

Success Stories

Despite these challenges, there have been notable successes:

• Darjeeling and Kalimpong, West Bengal: In a significant move, the government has agreed to convert 79 forest villages in Darjeeling into revenue villages, recognizing the land rights of the residents. This decision marks a crucial step towards securing the land rights of forest dwellers in the region and is a testament to the power of persistent advocacy and community solidarity.
• Mendha Lekha, Maharashtra: This village in Gadchiroli district became the first in India to receive community forest rights under the FRA. The villagers have successfully managed and conserved their forest resources.
• Niyamgiri, Odisha: The Dongria Kondh tribe’s successful resistance against bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri Hills was bolstered by the FRA. Their struggle led to a historic Supreme Court ruling that recognized their rights and halted the mining project.

Impact and Way Forward

The FRA has had a significant impact on the recognition of rights for various forest-dwelling communities:

• Empowerment: The act has empowered many communities by legally recognizing their traditional rights.
• Conservation: Studies have shown that community management of forests can lead to better conservation outcomes than state-managed reserves.
• Livelihoods: Recognizing land rights has improved the livelihoods of many forest-dwelling communities by providing them with security and access to resources.

Our Struggle in the Cinchona Plantations and Tea Estates of Darjeeling and Kalimpong

As original inhabitants of the Cinchona Plantations and tea estates of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal, we, the Gorkha community, along with other marginalized groups, have long-established roots and a deep connection to these lands. Despite our deep-rooted connection to this land, we still do not have ownership rights. This land is not just a piece of earth to us; it is our home, our heritage, and our identity.

We have equal fundamental rights like other citizens of India. It is time that our long-standing residency and contribution to this region are recognized by granting us ownership of the land we call home. Land is the biggest asset or property in anyone’s life, providing security, stability, and a sense of belonging.

The success stories of Mendha Lekha and the Dongria Kondh tribe inspire us. Their victories show that persistent struggle and solidarity can lead to recognition and justice. Just as the Forest Rights Act has empowered various forest-dwelling communities, we too seek recognition of our rights to the land we have nurtured and depended upon for generations.

Call to Action

We urge the authorities, our fellow citizens, and supporters to recognize our rightful claim to the land for the cinchona plantations and tea estates workers in Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Let us unite and advocate for our land rights, drawing strength from the successes of other marginalized communities across India. The Forest Rights Act represents a significant step towards addressing the long-standing grievances of forest-dwelling communities, and we believe it can serve as a model for securing our land rights for the cinchona plantations and tea estates workers in Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Let us work together to ensure justice and recognition for all who have long been denied their rightful place on the land they call home.

Writes: Dr. Sanjog Chhetri, Upper Village, Gairibas Cinchona Plantation

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Rethinking the tea industry has become nexessary, as the tea garden families continue to be treated as ‘bonded labourers’ by the tea companies – argues Upendra

The recent announcement by the WB Govt to grant 5-decimal land to tea garden families has raised multiple issues. The state government seems to have taken the decision haphazardly without any forethought, as has been made apparent.

After the announcement, the government has now asked for the tea companies to send in their feedback and views on the said announcement. While, no such offer has been made to the tea garden workers, their family members, or their trade unions.

No such feedback or views were sought when the Mamata Banerjee government decided to hand over 7500 Acres of tea garden land for tourism development, making the tea companies biggest land owners in a prime tourism destination like Darjeeling, overnight.

What I find most audacious is that the tea companies expect the workers and their families to remain bound to them, like bonded labourers.

screen shot of a report from The Telegraph

Arguing against granting the tea garden workers their Parja Patta rights, the tea companies are arguing that the workers may not join work after getting the patta, or the next generation family members of the workers may not work for the tea industry, so they may have to construct new “labour lines”, again these new workers may have to be given land rights, and again their next generation may not come to work and so on…

What about the tea companies? Did anyone ever ask what will happen if the tea company decides to abandon the garden but continue to retain their investment in the tourism business? What if one company does it, and then another and another and so on?

The way the tea industry is set up is highly feudalistic with the workers having zero rights. This was a model championed by the colonial Britishers. They did not want the natives to have any rights, and to remain bonded to the tea companies. This modern day bonded labour practice has continued in the tea gardens of Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars.

In the 21st century, this is simply unacceptable.

Today, almost all the welfare measures taken by the tea companies earlier have been assumed by the government. For instance, the government is building homes through PMAY scheme, government is constructing roads through PMGSY scheme, the government is providing highly subsidized ration through PM Garib Kalyan Scheme. In place of firewood, the government provides cooking gas cylinder through PM Ujjwala scheme. Drinking water is provided through Jal Jeevan Mission’s ‘Har Ghar Jal’ scheme. Health Centres are being built through the National Health Mission. The West Bengal government is even constructing crèche for the children of the tea workers. The Tea companies are thus saving a lot of money these days, as the government has stepped in to deliver the welfare facilities that the tea companies were actually supposed to provide. Yet, the tea companies don’t want to give decent liveable wages to the workers, and later complain of absenteeism.

I strongly feel that it is high time for the government to work towards dismantling this indirect bonded labour practised in the tea industry. The tea garden workers should have as much right to choose where they want to work as anyone else in the country. It is because of this feudalistic practice that the tea industry today affords to give the workers the lowest salaries, and almost no benefits, as they know they will have a ready supply of the next generation of workers, no matter how exploitative they are. Imagine, a non-skilled labourer today earning at least Rs 500 per day, whereas the tea garden workers are getting Rs 232 per day after multiple interventions by the state government. The tea garden workers too should be paid at least Rs 500 per day, that way the workers or their family members won’t need to go to distant cities to earn their livelihood.

The era of exploiting workers should be over.

Since the tea industry is so adamant about not granting the workers fair wages or their rights, from my vantage point, I sense that the only way for the tea industry to survive is by having the workers as equal stakeholders in the tea industry. The workers should get a share in the profit. Alternatively, instead of giving the tea gardens to be run by massive conglomerates, the government should adopt the cooperative model, and the tea gardens should be run as a worker cooperative. If AMUL can be successful worldwide as a cooperative, so can the tea industry of Darjeeling hills, Terai and Dooars. We need to dismantle the existing exploitative company-worker structure. We need to ensure justice for the workers by making them co-owner and equal partners in running the gardens.

In the long run, the cooperative system of tea gardens will not only rake in huge revenues for the government, but it will also ensure the economic well-being of the workers, as well as our entire region.

The post RETHINKING THE TEA INDUSTRY – Tea Garden Familes Aren’t Bonded Labourers appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Succumbing to pressure from the protestors, the state government under BJP’s Pema Khandu has decided to drop all discussions on extending permanent resident certificates (PRCs) in the near future. The demand for issuing PRC and opposition to it by the powerful All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) is not new. The politics over the PRC issue is also not new as well.

In 2013, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki during his last visit to the Vijaynagar valley prior to state assembly elections promised consideration of the long-pending issue and even issued Residency Certificates (RCs) to about 20 senior citizens. Pema Khandu, the current Chief Minister on his recent visit also announced that the people living there would soon receive a permanent solution as a New Year gift to the people.

It is indeed embarrassing for the BJP government to make such a sharp U-turn fearing political backlash by the opposition who have been demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister and Union Home Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is also from the state.

Although the government set up a joint high power committee (JHPC) formed to look into the intricacies and assess local anxieties, AAPSU alleges that the committee was overriding ground reports. With both the general elections and state assembly elections coming soon, the PRC issue is once again being used to gain political mileage and consolidate votes.

As is the norm, the ruling BJP government blamed the opposition Congress for inflaming passion. However, the fact remains that brutality of the protest and the scale of street rampage has confused everyone in the state, which has never witnessed such extreme protests. Only time will tell who gains the maximum political mileage out of the situation.

The Gorkha connection to Vijaynagar

The beautiful valley of Vijaynagar is home to Assam Rifles ex-servicemen (mostly Gorkha) and Yobin people, and who were settled in the region in the early 1960s, during the Indo-Chinese War. The valley is surrounded on three sides by Myanmar and the other side is flanked by the large expanse of the thick forest of Namdapha National Park. The closest Indian town is Miao, 157 km away and a 7 days trek while the closest Myanmarese town is Putao at 40 km. The road connectivity is almost negligible but the village has an airport which is used for emergency situations or sometime to drop food supplies to the region.

Since Independence, this territory has been administered by the Nehru-Elwin approach of ‘Least Intervention’ with NEFA serving as Guide Book for all policy matters. The foreword of NEFA begins with Nehru’s famous statement “Tribal rights in land and forest should be respected…. Some technical persons from outside, no doubt, is needed. But we should avoid introducing too many outsiders into tribal territory”.

In 1964, about 200 families of Assam Rifles mostly from the General Duty rank were settled in this hostile and inaccessible valley. The valley is grouped into 9 villages of Daragaon, Ramnagar, Phaperbari, Gairigaon, Chidudi (Shantinagar), Mazgaon, Top Hill, Buddha Mandir and Two Hut.

As per the All Settlers Welfare Association website, the settlement process continued till 1970-71, followed by the demarcation of Indo-Myanmar International Border in 1971-72 in this sector. Until 1972 settlers could not move out from Vijaynagar without escort and after the border demarcation, no further settlements were made in the area or elsewhere in Arunachal. It must be noted that if India had not made planned settlements and claimed stake on the region of the unoccupied territory, it was certain that Myanmar would have made their claim on the area as a contiguous territory of Kachin State.

“We did not come here by chance,” says Bhumi Upadhyaya, a local Gorkha whose family was one of the early settlers brought into the valley. “Before the wars, this valley was empty and barren. Our fathers and grandfathers were sent here by the government to stake a claim in this region for India. Many of them were forced to migrate to this god-forsaken land, some under voluntary retirement, so they could make this unclaimed land a part of India.” Bhumi who is now working in Mumbai talks of the hardship they face for every little official work to be done. “We are unable to apply for passports, jobs, or even get any support for education. I myself had to leave the village and stay far away right after completing after my Class Nine in the village. Like me, many youngsters leave the place because there is no security here, and only humiliation and inisecurity about everything – home, jobs, education, and sometimes even life.”

That settlement of Gorkhas along this international region guaranteed security against external threats for India. For many years, they worked hard under extreme conditions to begin a new life, hoping that the government will stand by its promise to provide them settlements, at par with the rest of Indians. Despite having been recognized as citizens and accorded voting rights, the Gorkhas of Vijaynagar are still forced to prove their identity, time and again. “We are citizens of Vijaynagar, India, but can you imagine a citizen with folded hands being forced to produce an identity card, voter IDs, or ration cards at every police check post. These days, they don’t even care for voter IDs and ration cards and they seemed to have made up their mind to label us outsiders. It is humiliating and astonishing,” says a senior Gorkha leader on anonymity, fearing vendetta.

Highlighting the historical background of Gorkha settlement at Vijaynagar, the AWSA website states “Some of the Jawans whose service tenure was not completed for a pension benefit, too were sent on the tiff of assurances. They were given to understand that their remaining period would be suffixed from their stay in the valley, thereby taken into full consideration for a pension. However, they largely remained deceived and forced to struggle in the valley without a pension. It is worth mentioning that no prudent man chooses to sacrifice his existing avocation, a prospect in service and pension for the sake of 11 acres of land (as provided to settlers) that too putting life at stake in the extremely inaccessible remote border. This speaks volume about how the settlers were allured and entrapped for the reason of national security of colonizing the area and justifying India’s claim over it.”

There is no doubt that the Gorkhas settled in Vijaynagar were sent, sometimes forcefully, to the region by the government to safeguard India’s interest in the wake of the Chinese invasion of 1962. However, today, with a flourishing economy and a better military system, the government has perhaps started to feel that the citizens of Vijaynagar are disposable. In the political maze that is being woven around this international border area, the Gorkha settlers stand to lose the most. With the settlement lease coming to an end in 2020, the onus is upon the government to show how much it honors the sacrifices of its army and stands true to its commitment.

Or perhaps, the obligation of the government for the sacrifice made for the nation is limited to building War memorials, statues, naming streets, and high-rise buildings. Swayed by the passionate calls of their political masters, perhaps the people themselves have chosen to live in manufactured lies and ignore genuine sacrifices made by their forefathers to build a better society for them to live.

Gorkhas of Vijaynagar deserve our nation’s gratitude, support and solidarity. We hope the administration will do what is right, instead of succumbing to political pressures.

The post Arunachal PRC Issue: Vis-à-vis Gorkha Settlement History of Vijaynagar appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.

Never before in the chequered history of Darjeeling has the issue of land right raked up controversy in political circles with various parties voicing their concern ranging from dissatisfaction over the quantum of land distribution to state’s ploy of reducing the status of hill people to that of refugees.

Darjeeling has a unique and interesting history as far as its land is concerned. According to late GNLF leader Shri Subash Ghising, this land is disputed and embroiled in the transaction of various international treaties between British India and Nepal and Bhutan. During his political ascendency, he had capitalised on the phrases like No Man’s land, Lease holds Land and had referred various treaties to support his claim, and it had always been his dream to incorporate this disputed land in the Indian Union within the constitutional framework.

For a layman, it is like wandering through the labyrinth of treaties and governmental administrative experiments to get a clear picture of Darjeeling. After Deed of Grant was signed between British India and the Sikkim rajah in 1835, the Darjeeling tract was officially meant to be used as a sanatorium for the soldiers of Raj. However, Britishers in their effort to end the Chinese monopoly over tea, the then Superintendent of Darjeeling Dr Campbell embarked upon tea experiment in the hills, and this venture, later, was set to change the course of history of this land forever. Subsequently, the tea industry defined the socio-economic and geographical profile of this region purely on colonial design. The East India Company only had a commercial interest in yet to be called India, profit was their sole objective while carrying out their business in this land. Once the tea experiment of Dr Campbell bore fruits, and go ahead signal was given by the Governor General of Bengal, huge demand for labour force was created in the hills. Fortunately, the Britishers had to look no far beyond than the nearby hills and mountains, which had a large pool of cheap labour. Then the great migratory expedition began for our ancestors from their native place to Munglan where they were told money used to grow in tea shrubs, mirroring the Great Gold Rush of California of the 18th century. Darjeeling appeared to them what Eldorado appeared to the Spanish explorers. The influx of hardworking Nepalese under Sardari system changed the socio-economic milieu of the region forever, which in turn still haunts the settled natives on the question of their political identity.

European planters chose to keep the hills outside the ambit of regulations of Bengal just to serve their commercial interest so that they could clear virgin jungles and hire cheap labour from neighbouring hills, which are now recognized as a separate nation of Nepal, according to their whims and fancies. The very status of Non-Regulated Areas, Scheduled District, Backward Tract and Partially Excluded Area under various government legislations happens to be the handiwork of European planters who were averse to the rules and regulations of Bengal Presidency. However, the same tea industry in Assam had different story to tell, it had the Transport of Native Labourers Act, 1863, Inland Emigration Act 1882, Tea District Emigrant Labour Act, 1932 to regulate the recruitment and working conditions of hired tea labourers while no such regulatory mechanism existed in the Darjeeling Hill under the garb of Non-Regulated areas. Noting the reckless misdealing of informal recruiters in the early 1860s, the British Raj kicked into gear to create a Protector of Immigrants, responsible for overseeing the well being of coolies migrating within India, as well as to other parts of the British Empire. However, the Protector’s jurisdiction did not cover Darjeeling. By contrast, Protector travelled extensively throughout Assam inspecting plantations to ensure that coolies are being properly paid; that they had migrated on their own volition; that working and living conditions were humane; that planters and labourers are fulfilling their obligations to one another.

The European planters vehemently opposed the idea of bringing the Darjeeling hills under a regulatory framework to further their own interest. So, it would not be an overstatement to say present Darjeeling Hills has been built on colonial design where the Nepalese tea labourers were never conferred the status of British subjects, and till today they struggle for their political identity on account of denial of land rights to them which make them second-class citizens of this great nation.

Post independence, after our first PM Nehru spoke about the tryst with destiny, many land reforms measures were undertaken in various states across the country. West Bengal also embarked upon the journey to provide social and economic justice to its people by enacting the West Bengal Estate Acquisition Act, 1953 with a sole aim of:- (a) abolition of zamindary system, (b) creation of direct relationship between state and the raiyats (c) putting ceiling on land holdings of the intermediaries. This Act was basically concerned with the acquisition of land from private parties referred to as intermediaries and then vesting it to state, but it was silent on the distribution of land to its people.

While putting ceiling on the quantum of land by intermediaries and raiyats, the WBEA Act, 1953 contains the provision under sec 6 (3) to regulate the tea garden lands in the state, which says “ tea garden to retain only so much land, as in the opinion of the state government, was required for the tea garden”, the extraneous land was required to be resumed by the state government and vest to it under khatian no 1 meant for government land. The resumption process required a Land Resumption Advisory Committee to be formed which would give the opportunity of being heard to the lessee planter who had bought the land under lease.

If European planters were against the economic interest of the tea labourers during the British Raj, today their desi version Indian planters could pose hurdle in the process of granting land rights to tea gardeners, however ultimately political will of the state government would have final say in this matter since there are many cases where huge swathes of unused tea garden lands have been resumed by the government and settled with the occupiers.

Going by the state’s effort to look after its citizens by enacting various land reforms acts and thereby fulfilling the duties of a welfare state as enshrined in the constitution, apart from the WBEA Act, 1953 and WBLR Act, 1955, other important land reforms acts like West Bengal Acquisition and Settlement of Homestead Land Act, 1969, West Bengal Acquisition of Homestead Land for Agricultural Labourers, Artisana and Fishermen Act, 1975 were enacted for conferment of title in favour of occupier over 0.0334 hectares of land. These two Acts were the forerunners of the present Nijo Griha Nijo Bhumi scheme that seeks to provide 5 decimals or 3 cottahs of land for the purpose of homestead land to the landless and homeless people of the state.

Interestingly, the people of Darjeeling hills are not landless and homeless but have no title rights on their land thus making them officially landless on paper, and this special issue has to be addressed by the state government urgently.

Moreover, the scheme is to be implemented following certain guidelines wherein identification of the beneficiaries is one important aspect. How the government will implement the scheme is the onus on its part. As Darjeeling has most of its areas under tea gardens (leased lands), entire tea garden residents should raise the voice for the resumption of unused tea garden lands by the state and the resumed lands be settled with them under sec 49, WBLR Act 1955. The lapses in West Bengal land reforms acts that have neglected the tea gardeners should have been avoided by the then MLAs , representatives of the hills during the enactment of these Acts in 1953 and 1955 or in 1978 when Left government after coming to power had launched Operation Barga to provide land rights to crores of Bargadars in the state. Even the Zilla Parishad appears to have slept over the land rights issue since it had the powers to settle land under land reforms acts.

The slumber continued to erstwhile hill autonomous body Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council which had the executive powers under Sec 24 of the DGHC Act in relation to : “The allotment, occupation or use, or setting apart, of land other than any land which is reserved forest, for the purpose of agriculture or grazing, or for residential or other non-agricultural purposes, or for any other purpose likely to promote the interest of the inhabitants of any village, locality or town , subject to the provisions of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955 and the rules made thereunder”. The previous tenure of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration was no exception as far as settlement of land was concerned. Under Sec 26 of the GTA Act, it also had the administrative, financial and executive power in relation to the allotment of land. So, the apathy of state government and the dysfunctional local authority, both were equally responsible for the present plight of the people without land rights.

Ironically, to compound the issue of land rights, rumours and politically charged views on the 5 decimal land under Nijo Griha Nijo Bhumi began to do rounds. Political parties raised their concern of government trying to acquire the land held in excess of 5 decimal possessed by a family, some parties asked people to be cautious as this land was meant for refugees settled in West Bengal and so by accepting this land our status would be that of refugees. It is really sad to come across such hearsay in the 21st century India where social welfare-oriented legislations like Right to Information Act has empowered our society like never before. It is widely accepted the fact in our country that any political party after coming to power does launch flagship schemes and other populist welfare schemes to gain political mileage. However, the Constitution of our country has a provision that every action, orders, policies of the government of the day are subject to judicial review for their constitutionality. Governments can never take any action against the provisions of our Constitution. There are many landmark judgements from the Supreme Court against the states’ policy, for violating the spirit of the constitution. According to the constitution, the state shall always strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may, a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life.

It must be borne in mind by the common citizens that the objective and guiding principles of the land reforms department are totally in sync with the Directive Principles of State Policy that seek to improve the welfare of citizens. The Constitution also has laid down strong safeguards in the form of Fundamental Rights to protect citizens from any injustice, be it individual initiated or state-sponsored. How far can judiciary uphold the spirit of our constitution can be surmised from the landmark case of Indira Gandhi Vs Raj Narain where the Supreme Court held the clause 4 of the 39th Amendment Act as unconstitutional and void on the ground that it was an outright denial of the right to equality enshrined in Article 14. So, under any circumstances, the state cannot deprive its citizens of their rights.

It is also a well known historical fact that our great nation has never attacked any other country but on the contrary, faced numerous invasions and absorbed diverse socio-cultural traditions of the conquerors to evolve as a vibrant multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, multi-religious nation. It has offered refuge to many asylum seekers, notably being Tibetan refugees who fled Tibet in 1957 to avoid Chinese persecution. So, the very idea of state conspiring against its own citizens, depriving them of their fundamental rights is totally unconstitutional that can be challenged in courts.

The issue of land right is confined not only to the Darjeeling hills, even the small tea growers of Assam numbering around 78,286 have been facing this problem. In absence of land rights, they have not been able to enjoy benefits from statutory bodies like the Tea Board of India apart from living with the ignominy of being Bangladeshi settlers. Fortunately, for the people of Assam, their Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has announced granting land pattas to the small tea growers on Sep 11, 2017.

What people of our hills should emphasis upon is the urgency of securing land rights since land has belonged to the tillers from time immemorial. Land right is an inalienable right of our people. Only by securing land rights do our people become first-class citizens of this great nation. Researches also have shown a positive correlation between economic development and land ownership. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to the citizens since land is deeply attached to human society through religions and customs, it provides the sense of identity and self-respect and also form important economic factor. People should be aware of the importance of land rights and engage the government to grant the same.

The core ideals of justice, will be realised only after conferment of land titles to citizens.

[Writes: Saakal Ulysses Dewan – Ging Tea Garden, Darjeeling]

The post THE CURIOUS CASE OF “NIJO GRIHA-NIJO BHUMI”: Issue of Land Rights in Darjeeling Hills appeared first on The Darjeeling Chronicle.