K'pong forest villagers to be given 'title deed

SNS, KALIMPONG, 12 NOVEMBER 2018: The Forest Rights Committee (FRC) today said Title Deeds' will be distributed to 701 families living in torest villages under Kalimpong district Soon.

Chairman of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) Board of Administrators, Binoy Tamang, who is also a member of the FRC, said here today that 455 of the 701 families are non- tribal. It may be in mentioned here that such land rights can be given to people of any community tribals,living in the said land for three generations and not just tribals.

Eighty families from Block-1, 465 families from Block- 2 and 156 from Gorubathan block will be given their rights. 

We will try to sort out all the misinterpretations soon," Mr Tamang said. It is learnt that the FRC plans to distribute the 'Title Deed' to forest villagers by February 2019. Kalimpong District Magistrate, Dr Viswanath, later said that the Record of Rights' can be given to forest villagers only after the Title Deed is distributed. "After this, the conversion of land can be sought (from forest village to revenue village)," he said.

"At those places where forest maujas not been covered, we will organise Gram Sabha (village meetings) and get resolutions and requisitions from the sub-divisional level committee and discuss them at the district level c . This is the procedure as per the Forest Rights Act 2006,- Dr Viswanath added.

Forest rights activist Lila Gurung, the President of the Himalayan Forest Village Organization, however, said that the Forest Rights Act of 2006 has been amended and that the Government of India had on 2013 passed a resolution stating that the Title Deed is not required for forest villagers.

"Title Deed comes to the scene only when the village is converted to a revenue village. We have read the Act very well, and nowhere in the FRA has such process (as explained by the FRC) been mentioned," he said.