New Delhi: The Centre has urged states and Union territories to promptly update their revenue and forest records to ensure that all forest rights holders can benefit from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
The ministries of environment and tribal affairs jointly wrote to the chief secretaries of all states and Union territories concerned on Thursday, providing a comprehensive set of guidelines and clarifications for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA).
FRA acknowledges and vests forest rights and occupation to forest-dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have inhabited such places for generations but whose rights were not documented.
The central ministries said the incorporation of forest rights in the revenue and forest records is essential to help and facilitate the such rights holders to avail the benefits of government schemes.
Accordingly, state authorities need to be sensitised to expedite the process of updating the record of rights, they said.
In February 2019, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers Welfare issued directives to states and Union Territories (UT) for the inclusion of rights of forest dwellers who have been issued ‘pattas’ (land titles) under the FRA.
It also recommended that such rights holders should be eligible to receive benefits from the ‘PM Kisan Samman Nidhi’ scheme, subject to other eligibility conditions.
The ministries said that without the update of rights in revenue and forest records, FRA patta-holders are unable to avail themselves of the benefits of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.
Therefore, all states must ensure that the rights of FRA patta holders are updated in land records within a stipulated time-frame, the ministries urged.
The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi provides a minimum income support of Rs 6,000 per year to farmers.
In March 2014, the tribal affairs ministry issued guidelines, urging all states and UTs to update the record of rights in revenue and forest records to integrate forest rights holders and treat them equally with other landholders.
In November 2022, the environment ministry issued an advisory to all states and UTs to update revenue and forest records wherever individual, community, or community forest resource rights are recognised.
Both ministries have called upon state and UT governments to expedite the process in accordance with the guidelines.
According to government data, 45,76,333 claims (43,86,780 individual and 1,89,553 community) have been filed and 23,49,174 land titles (22,35,125 individual and 1,14,049 community) distributed as of December 2023 under the FRA. A total of 41,05,296 (89.71 per cent) claims have been disposed of.
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