Tribal community troubled by not getting land lease in Madhya Pradesh

Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh is a tribal dominated district. Which comes in the fifth schedule area. Farming is the main means of livelihood of the tribal community settled in this district. But, it is not so easy to do farming easily, this tells us Mohgaon block of Mandla district.

By Satish Bhartiya

In 12 villages of this block, tribal and other traditional forest dwellers have been doing farming on revenue and forest land for generations, but till date land rights letters (pattas) have not been provided to these villagers. Due to non-availability of land leases, tribals and other traditional residents are deprived of other schemes of the government like Kisan Samman Nidhi, Agricultural Compensation. At the same time, due to lack of lease, people are not able to declare their official rights on the land.

In such a situation, the residents here have launched a campaign under the provisions of the Non-Encroachment Land Act 1970 and have submitted 300 personal memorandums to the Collector. When we see and study these memorandums of farmers, we find part of the information mentioned in the memorandum mentioned as follows:-

I am Siyaram Jharia, father Ram Kripal, native of Block Mohgaon, District Mandla Madhya Pradesh. I have been occupying the revenue land for the last 50 years and building houses for generations. This is the only means of livelihood I have. , It is a request to Mr. Ji that, taking cognizance of our application, please make efforts to get us (land rights certificate) done after proper investigation as per the intention of Madhya Pradesh Government. So that we can feed our family well. The approximate area occupied is 1 acre.

Similar description has been given by 300 farmers in their memorandums. We talked to some farmers who submitted the memorandum of obtaining the lease in the name of the Collector. One of them is farmer Sahadev Kumar Bhavedi. He says, ‘We have been doing farming on this land of ours since I was not born. We do not get the benefit of any government scheme on this non-lease land. There is a demand from our government to make a lease for our land. Due to lack of lease, the villagers say that there is no lease, the land has been encroached upon. In such situations, situations of war arise. The question here is whether in this situation the constitutional values like liberty and fraternity of Sahadev Kumar Bhavedi and other farmers are not affected?

Social worker Rajkumar Sinha, who played an important role in running the campaign to get lease of land occupied by farmers, says, ‘This story is of 12 villages of Mohgaon block of Mandla district. Where people have been farming on the occupied land for generations. But he has not received the lease yet. Due to which farmers do not get any benefit from agricultural schemes. Sinha further says, ‘I think if a survey is conducted in Madhya Pradesh, thousands of such families will be found. Who have been doing farming for generations. But they did not get the lease.

The government’s stance in this entire matter raises many questions on the government. Madhya Pradesh Government which is settled in cities; Its Nazul is talking about giving lease of land, but till now no response has been received from the government regarding the lease of the people who have been doing farming in rural areas. The question of the affected families is that does not the people who have been farming for generations not getting the lease and not getting their response, create a crisis on the constitutional values like people’s trust and justice?

Talking about the law regarding land leases, the Forest Rights Act 2006 recognizes the rights of tribals and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources and land. This law entitles individuals, families and communities to land and forests. Mainly it strengthens the Gram Sabha to run the process of claims and rights. Similarly, the PESA Act which talks about rights to water, forests and land and strengthening the tribals. It is with the help of these two Acts that tribal and other indigenous people demand land leases. But, their demands often remain limited to memoranda and files.

The problem of land lease in Mandla is so widespread that to obtain forest land rights certificate, people of the tribal community wrote individual and collective applications to other officials besides the Collector. One of these applications was written to Sub-Departmental Officer Mandla. Some excerpts from the application are as follows-

This application is in the context of providing Forest Rights Certificates to the people occupying the forest land before 13 December 2005 as per the intention of the Madhya Pradesh Government. It is mentioned in the application that we all the applicants are natives of Gana Gram Simaiya, Gram Panchayat Singapore, District Mandla. We have been living and farming in the village for many generations. Through which our family is nurtured.

It is further mentioned in the letter that, since the Forest Rights Act came into force in 2006, we have filled the claim form. Continuous proceedings are going on for Forest Rights Certificate since 2010. Whereas the claim has been presented by getting the resolution passed by the Gram Sabha and by presenting the statement of the village elders and all the evidence. A lot of our labor and money has been invested in making this forest land suitable for agriculture.

The letter further states: Physical inspection of the occupied forest land has been conducted by the concerned department.

Then, it was written in the letter that Sir, it is requested that we take into cognizance the applications of all the claimants and please get us Forest Rights Certificate. These forest rights claimants include the names of 12 people including Balmat, Imrat, Charanlal and Maniram. Similarly, the tribal people of Chubhawal Gram Panchayat wrote a collective application to the Collector (Mandla) demanding Forest Rights Certificate. Names of 11 people including Rajkumar, Lallu, Sukhdev and Budhiyabai are registered in this application form.

Now the question is that despite taking so much action and physical inspection of the land, not giving the patta, does it not ignore the equality of farmers before the law (Article 14)?

Odhari is a village about 50 km away from Mandla. Basaniya Dam (estimated cost Rs 2700 crore) is proposed here. 31 villages will fall under the submergence area of the dam. Village Odhari is also included in this. Some tribal people, including former Sarpanch of this village (Odhari), Lammu Singh Marabi, claim that, ‘About 60 percent of the people in the village have been doing farming on forest and revenue lands for 80-90 years (grandfathers and great-grandfathers). But we have not yet received the land rights letter (lease). We asked for the lease several times, but did not get the lease.

‘Dalit Dastak’ wanted to know the stand of the Forest Department in this matter related to land lease. The attitude of the Forest Department was evasive. The department said that ‘right now no one is driving those people away from here. It will be seen when it is chased away.

But other tribals including Shyam Singh Tekam have a different opinion in this matter. Referring to the current situation, he says, ‘Today’s situation is that due to the Basaniya Dam being proposed in Odhari village, our lease and land (the only means of livelihood) is also being lost, in such a situation, there is a direct threat to our livelihood. Will be born.

Odhari villagers also said, ‘The problem of lease is not only in our village but also in other tribal villages around us like Dhangaon, Chimkatola, Rampura, Bilgada. If the land of Odhari or other villagers gets submerged by Basaniya Dam and they do not get compensation due to lack of lease. Then won’t constitutional values like economic justice for these villagers be violated?

These issues of land leases in Madhya Pradesh were raised in the Assembly by Dr. Ashok Marskole, Regional (Resident Assembly) MLA of Mandla. But, no satisfactory answer came. This question was raised in the Assembly by MLA Ashok Marskole. He had asked, will the Revenue Minister please tell what is the action plan and provision for giving lease to the farmers who have been doing farming on government revenue land for the last many years? He had also sought information from the state government about orders for granting lease to land-possessing poor farmers.

Then the answer that came from Revenue Minister Govind Singh Rajput regarding this question; It is also important to see that. He said that provisions have been made in Chapter-7 Paragraph 128 to 136 of Madhya Pradesh Nazul Nirvartan Rules 2020. M.P. After the coming into effect of Nazul Removal Rules 2020, all the instructions issued before have been cancelled. Similarly, other MLAs had also asked questions in the Assembly earlier regarding the problem of leases. The land rights problem persists.

When we talked to MLA Dr. Ashok Marskole about land leases. Then MLA Marscole said that ‘those revenue leases come under the Revenue Department, but the rural areas have been encroached upon by people for many years, which have to be resolved. But the action or file is not progressing at the government level. That’s why those leases are not available. And similar is the case with forest rights leases.

MLA Ashok Marskole further says, ‘…last time I had asked a question in the Assembly (regarding the lease problem), then only Nazul land was mentioned in the answer. These issues of land leases are not limited to this, they are on a very large scale.

In fact, this story of the tribal community not getting leases is not limited only to Mandla district, but in Guna and Vidisha districts of Madhya Pradesh, the tribal group is facing similar difficulties. The Guna Center of the country-wide organization Ekta Parishad wrote a memorandum to the Collector in May 2022 for obtaining forest land pattas for the Sahariya tribals of Guna district. It was told in the letter that under the Forest Rights Act 2006, the beneficiaries who were in possession of the forest land before December 13, 2005, have applied online to get (land) rights. This application is currently pending with the block level committee and district level committee. This letter further demanded a solution to the other basic needs of the tribals including leases.

Suraj Sahariya, district coordinator of a council, also handed us a list. It was claimed in the list that 2822 forest rights claims of tribal community were canceled in Bamhauri tehsil of Guna district itself. Whereas, the figure of cancellation of other traditional claims is 4679 (Bamhauri tehsil). There itself; According to the report of MP Van Mitra Portal in March 2022, 6202 forest rights claims of tribal community were canceled in five tehsils of Guna district respectively, Aron, Guna, Chachaida, Bamhauri and Raghogarh.

When we met the tribal people in Vidisha district regarding the problem of land leases. Then many tribal people including Ratan Singh Sahariya of Ganjbasoda tehsil told that we have been doing farming on forest land for years, but till now we have not got the benefit of any agricultural scheme. A few years ago, we were given a government letter in the name of cultivation of forest land. Were the constitutional values like economic justice in the Preamble of the Constitution followed by these people? Maybe not as much as was necessary.

When we see and study these letters given to the tribals, then we find the names of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Madhya Pradesh Government and the recipient written on the upper part of the letters. Some excerpts mentioned further in the letter are – You have been using the forest land for the last many years, but you could not get any right on it. For the first time, my government has accepted your claim and given you a certificate of authority over the forest land. Now you can use your land without any interruption. Your rights on the land will be protected and future generations will also be able to benefit from it. This letter is written in October, 2009. But, it is not written in the letter how much land has been given to the recipient.

In Madhya Pradesh, demand for land lease is also being raised from Seoni (Fifth Schedule area) district. Bargi Dam oustees of District Panchayat Ghansaur, Gram Panchayat Bakhari Mal and Dhumamal of the district have written a letter, dated 22-02-2023, addressed to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh. It was said in the letter that, under the Forest Rights Act 2006, land rights letters will be provided to the claimants already in possession after investigation. Through this letter, a demand was made to solve many fundamental problems like not getting the Prime Minister/Chief Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi.

The problem of land leases of the tribal community in Madhya Pradesh is so severe that in a district like Barwani (Fifth Schedule area), JAIS (Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti) organization has protested for about three weeks regarding land leases. But, the condition of Barwani is that 683 land rights certificate claims under the Forest Rights Act of District Panchayat Niwali of the district were canceled in the year 2019. At the same time, last year in 2022, 690 land rights claims of Niwali were cancelled.

When we see the cancellation of forest rights claims at the Madhya Pradesh level, then we remember the statement given by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh in June 2020, in which Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said, ‘3 lakh 58 thousand 339 forest rights claims have been canceled in the state. The cancellation shows that the officials did not take the work seriously. Officers should develop a mindset that they will not allow the rights of the poor to be snatched away.

The CM had also told the Collector and Forest Division officials that ‘any tribal who is in possession of the land on or before December 31, 2005, should compulsorily get the land lease. No eligible tribal should be deprived of the lease. If there is even a little negligence in work, strict action will be taken. CM said that there is a section of the tribal society which is not able to express its views properly, hence it is wrong to ask for evidence of leases from them and cancel the leases on the basis of that.

At the same time, we see the record of cancellation of land rights claims at the national level. Then we come to know from the report of Oxfam India that, till May 2015, the government received 44 lakh forest rights claims, but in this only 17 lakh people received the rights letters. In such a situation, when we look at the status of forest rights claims filed in the country, according to the data of the Tribal Ministry, till November 2022, 42,97,245 individual claims were received under the Forest Rights Act 2006. In which 21,46,782 (about 50%) claims received land rights. Whereas, 1,69,372 community claims were received, out of which 1,02,889 (about 61%) claims got land rights. Further, data presented by the Tribal Ministry on December 14, 2022 revealed that, till June 2022, only about 50 percent of the claims filed have been settled.

It is noteworthy that on one hand the tribal community has been demanding land leases for years, while on the other hand lakhs of land rights claims are being canceled and the claims are not even being settled. In such a situation, the constitutional values of the tribal class like freedom to live a dignified life, justice, trust and equality remain under threat. Regarding the tribal community, we repeatedly hear that, “Water, forest and land are under the control of the tribals,” but the reality is exactly the opposite. Even today the tribal class is struggling for other resource rights like land.

Satish Bhartiya

Satish Bhartiya is an independent journalist and fellow at Vikas Samvad Parishad. Presently Satish is doing ground reporting on topics like land disputes in India.

Courtesy : Dalit Dastak

Note: This news piece was originally published in dalitdastak.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Right