Over 20,000 villages in MP to get Community Forest Resource Rights

Indore: The Madhya Pradesh govt has decided to speed up the process of granting Community Forest Resource (CFR) Rights to around 20,000 villages in the state.

Madhya Pradesh is among the states with the fewest villages so far receiving CFR Rights, a special category under section 3(1)(i) of the FRA, 2006, which empowers gram sabhas (village councils) to legally manage their traditional forests. These rights ensure community-led conservation and sustainable use of forest resources, said official sources.

So far, four villages in the state have been provided these rights, while there is a target to extend the same to around 20,000 villages in Madhya Pradesh. This information was shared by experts to collectors, DFOs, zila panchayat CEOs, and other senior officials of the Indore-Ujjain division during a two-day divisional-level workshop focusing on community forest rights and the conservation and management of forest resources. The workshop, organised in line with the state govt's directives for the effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006, concluded in Indore on Friday.

Resource persons Sharadchandra Lele from the ATREE Institute, Bangalore, and Ashwini Kange, working in Chhattisgarh, provided detailed information on the process of conservation and management of community forests as per the provisions of the Forest Rights Act and the procedures for their recognition, through presentations and short films. They explained how to maintain and manage forests effectively.

The state govt has sped up the conversion of a total of 925 ‘Van Gram' (forest villages) into ‘Rajasva Gram' (revenue villages). "We have urged the state govt to carry out a proper survey and settlement of agricultural fields in 925 Van Gram before converting them into Rajasva Gram, else the farmlands of people would be considered as encroachment," Lele said.

In the workshop, Indore divisional commissioner Deepak Singh urged officials to actively participate in recognising maximum number of community forest rights in their respective areas, in accordance with the govt's vision, and to play a proactive role in forest conservation and management.