Goemkarponn desk
SANGUEM: In spite of several assurances over the years, some tribal villagers and farmers from Sanguem residing in the Netravali area are still fighting for their rights under the Forest Rights Act 2006, social worker Mithil Ulhas Dessai said while speaking to media persons in South Goa.
Tribals residing with a fixed habitation within the boundaries of the Netravali Wild Life Sanctuary were promised a solution to their cases for alternate accommodation or compensation for loss of their ancestral agricultural/horticultural activity, since the implementation of the Forests Rights Act in Goa in 2012.
According to Mithil Ulhas Dessai, during a recent event to distribute organic fertilizers to farmers in Netravali, some villagers approached him with their problems, claiming that they have not yet been accorded their rights, which are long due.
While the government has cleared more than 1000 cases over the last two years, over 100-odd villagers claim that they are yet to be cleared by the Collector, Mithil said, adding that these cases pertain to tribal villagers residing in forest areas and conducting agricultural plantation for over 50 to 60 years.
Some families were occupying agricultural land within the Netravali Wild Life sanctuary zone for over 100 years and were displaced after the place was declared a wildlife sanctuary.
The villagers claim they have produced relevant documents before the designated officers, but the matter is still pending due to some or other reason.
While the opening of special courts in villages helped the villagers to a large extent enabling them to attend the hearings, several families are still running from pillar to post, said Mithil.
Most of these tribal families are backward with little or no formal education or skilled training and are unable to get jobs in the private sector. They have been forest dwellers and farmers, living from the proceeds of the plantation activity for decades, and besides this activity, they are unable to carry on any other occupation for want of the requisite skills, Mithil said.
The Centre for Promoting Indian Economy (CPIE India) had suggested setting up similar farming activity outside the boundaries of the Wild Life sanctuary zone, but the straying of wild animals and the destruction caused by them in fields is a cause for concern.
Farmers in Netravali are concerned about the damage to their crops due to wild animals who venture out into the fields in search of food and damage the crops, Mithil said, adding that this damage is substantial, given the fact that wild animals like Gaur, wild boar, wild pig, etc., regularly stray into the fields in the area.
