SHILLONG:Congress MDC from Rambrai-Jyrngam, Bajop Pyngrope said the government should come up clean in implementing the National Forest Policy 1988 pertaining to the need to associate tribal people in the protection, regeneration and development of forest.
In a statement issued here, Pyngrope said the ban on timber and coal which is the gainful livelihood of the people had been ignored by the government and the people were deprived of an alternative source of livelihood.
He observed that the government should also provide an alternative to compensate protection and regeneration of forest in tribal land.
As allegations point to the presence of mafia to transport coal at night especially in and around Rambrai, he said the word, ‘mafia’ was too harsh a word to the simple village folks engaged in livelihood in absence of an alternative source of livelihood.
He asserted that 97 per cent of the land and the forest and other resources therein belong to the people who possess the rights to use their land and the resources therein.
He further said that there were nearly 200 million tribal and other traditional forest dwellers in India who derived their livelihoods mainly from forest resources. Similarly, there are thousands of tribal in West Khasi Hills who derive their livelihood from their forest resources.
As a way forward, Pyngrope maintained that the state government should implement the Forest Rights Act 2006 in its right spirit.
“The forest bureaucracy must also be reformed to serve as service providers to Dorbar Shnongs. There is a need to provide marketing and MSP support to non-timber forest products and create institutional mechanism to support community forest enterprise for value addition,” he said.
He added that the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs at the Central and State levels are strengthened with human and financial resources to help implement FRA, 2006 on a mission mode.
It may be mentioned that there are reports of charcoal mafia operation in West Khasi Hills and that the absence of Territorial Division is the main cause of illegal burning of charcoal and transportation as the district has only the Social Forestry Division which has no authority to apprehend the smugglers.