Conclusion

CONCLUSION

In the concluding chapter, the researcher intends to sum up his arguments made in

different chapters and present an overview of the work. The objective of the thesis is to

examine the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in management of forest resource in

Scheduled Areas. The study has focused on the Koraput district _of Orissa primarily

because this district falls under the Scheduled Area and the Panchayat Extension to the

Scheduled Area Act, 1996 is also applied to this district. Moreover, this district consists

of large number of tribal population and forest is the main source of their livelihood.

The history of forests in India, as anywhere else in the world, is related to the

history of civilization. The civilization began in India at Mahenjodaro and Harappa much

before the arrival of the Aryans. There is also evidence of a thriving Dravidian

Civilisation existing deep in the South about 2000 B.C. Prior to advent of the Britishers,

the forest in India remained in the hands of the tribal people and they had the

responsibility of using and managing of the forest resources for its sustainability. This

harmony between the tribal people and the forests was disrupted, when the British started

exploiting the forest resources for commercial purpose. The ecological change and its

destruction started since the European applied to their patterns of resource use.

Consequently, the communal control over these lands and forest resources was no longer

left to the tribal people.

The Forest Policy, 1894, was the first forest policy in India. In this policy, the

British Government made two major enunciations: first, the conservation of forests

became primary objective; and secondly, the public benefit was projected as the sole

Conclusion

object of forest administration. Further, this policy treated revenue generation from the

forest as secondary. Since 1854 forest was exploited for the purpose of

commercialisation. However. it had clearly stated that the Government could impose

restrictions on the rights of the forest dwellers because the state was the sole

administering authority over forest. This policy had negative impact on the forest

dwellers. The British Government, however, realised that forests had to be used for

economic purpose as well as for the survival of the forest dweller.

The Scientific Forestry had begun in the first quarter of the 201h century. Under

the Scientific Forestry, the Government took an attempt to restrict the felling trees. As a

result, a general defiance arose against the British forest laws, particularly during the

Indian Home Rule Movement and the Non Co-operation Movement. In post­

independence period 'Chipko' movement proved that persuasion and not coercion can

secure people's support in forest protection. The Indian Forest Act, 1927 codified forest

legislation on people's rights over forest land and forest products and it also strengthened

the provisions of the Act of 1894. The main objective of this forest legislation was to

increase the revenue for the government. In this Act, the Government, instead of

conserving the forest for the interest of the forest dwellers, ali owed the export of valuable

timbers for remunerative purpose. Moreover, the forestry of India was adversely affected

during the World War-1 and World War-11. In these wars, a large quantity of timbers and

other forest produces destroyed to meet the requirement the War.

A new development took place in the area of forest management in the post­

independence phase. In the early 1950s, most of the states enacted new legislations

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Conclusion

affecting land tenure systems. Also, large areas of privately owned forests came to rest

with the Forest Departments of States. The I 952 Forest Policy is another important

turning point in the evolution of forest management in India.

Soon after the formulation of the 1952 Policy, the emphasis was given to national

interest. The policy clearly pointed out that the local interests and priorities should be

subservient to national interest in a broader perspective. Thus, this policy clearly stated

that village communities in the neighborhood of a forest will naturally make a greater use

of its products for the satisfaction of their domestic and agricultural needs. Such use,

however, should not be permitted at the cost of national interest. In the name of national

interests, the Government of India used the forest resources to meet the requirements of

defence, communications and vital wood based industries. In the early stages of

development, close collaboration of influential groups such as industrialists, timber

traders, agriculturists and government spread all over the country because wood-based

industries were primarily depending on species form the forests. The collaboration not

only increased the availability of large quantity of timber to the wood-based industries at

very low prices but also released land for the expansion of agriculture.

The drawback of 1952 policy was that even if the emphasis was given on

ecological and social forestry but in actual practices, the government did not address this

issue. In most parts of the country, large section of ecologically sensitive areas are

destroyed to set up big projects such as power, mining, irrigation and industrial ventures

and infrastructure like roads and railways. In this juncture, through the contract

lumbering system, huge areas of forest had been clear-felled to raise revenue for the State

169

Conclusion

The National Commission on Agriculture (NCA) in 1970 examined all aspects of

agriculture including forestry. However, the Commission has not paid positive attention

to the interests of the forest dwellers. The NCA restricted the nishtar rights of the forest

dwellers, i.e., rights of the forest dwellers over some Minor Forest Produces (MFP).

Further the Social Forestry programme was initiated primarily to manage and protect

forest and afforestation in barren land for aiding in environmental, social and rural

development. The Social Forestry programme was widely designed to meet the primary

needs of the tribal and rural population and was completely opposed to the use of forest

for industrial and revenue purposes.

The National Forest Policy, 1988 was another historic move by the central

government. The 1988 Policy was a turning point in the history of forest management in

India. The national goal of the policy was to have a minimum of one-third of the total

land area of the country under forest or tree cover. In the hills and in mountainous

regions, the aim was to maintain two-third of the area under such cover in order to

prevent erosion and land degradation and to ensure the stability of the fragile eco-system.

Moreover, the 1988 Forest Policy highlighted the symbiotic relationship between the

tribal people and forest. It was also stated that the primary task of all agencies and forest

development corporations was to associate the tribal people in protection, regeneration

and development of forests, providing for gainful employment to people living in and

around the forest.

In order to preserve forest, the government realised that the key to success lies in

the people themselves and the local knowledge, skills and traditions are valuable assets in

170

Conclusion

this programme. Thus, the Government of India initiated a programme in encouraging the

shareholding system and other forms of partnership to promote long-term commitment in

management of forest and ensure that the real benefits of forest will reach to the rural

communities.

After a long history of forest policy, the policy planners and forest administrators

began to develop new strategies to reduce the conflict between the state agencies and

rural people. An attempt had been made to facilitate the emergence of collaborative forest

management systems that responded to the national needs and local resources

requirements. In this strategy, it came to widely recognise that the active involvement of

the rural and tribal people living in and around forest was crucial for the ultimate success

of forest protection, regeneration and management activities. In this perspective, the

National Forest Policy, 1988, outlined the scope for people's participation in forest

management as one of its basic objectives. The policy highlighted on "creating a massive

people movement with the involvement of women for achieving these objectives and to

minimize pressure on existing forests''. The broader parameters of people's participation

were determined by June 1990 circular of the Government of India. In this circular, the

government outlined Modus Operandi for involvement of the local people living in and

around forest areas and the NGOs to jointly regenerate the degraded forests in the

country. However, the tradition and custom of the society restricts the women to

participate in joint system of resources management.

The Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005, is proposed to

address the needs and aspirations of the forest dwellers. As far as the tribals are

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Conclusion

concerned, this Bill recognised that "historical injustices" have been done to the tribal

communities by the government both the colonial and the post-colonial period. The main

provision of the Bill is to legally entitle 2.5 hectare of forest land to those tribals, who

have occupied forest land before October 25, 1980. But the tribals, who have been

occupied forest-land after the above mentioned date will simply be evicted from the

occupying forest land. So, the government should take necessary steps to address these

people as well. Long term economic interest does and can become a strong motivation for

the protection of forest resources.

In the context of Orissa, the year 1948 brought forests of erstwhile princely states

under the control of the Orissa Forest Department. After merger, the Indian Forest Act,

1927, was extended with effect from the I st April, 1948, by the Administration of Orissa

State's Order, 1948.

However, instead of preserving the forest resources in the interest of the tribal

community, the Government of Orissa deforested extensive forest land for various

development projects. Extensive forest land was also leased out for extension of

agriculture and implementation of the so called policy like "land to landless''. Extensive

encroachments over valuable forest lands in several districts like Koraput, Sambalpur and

Mayurbhanj were regularised by executive orders.

After such a huge damage to environment and ecology, a new sense of awareness

has emerged and both the Government and the people have started thinking to preserve

the residual forests to improve the degraded forests and take up plantations on a huge

scale under state initiative. Since the beginning of the 5th Plan, special forestry schemes

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Conclusion

have been taken up in a big way following the all-India policy recommended by the

National Commission on Agriculture. The programme under social has forestry included

mixed plantation, rehabilitation of degraded forests, rural fuel wood plantation, coastal

shelter belt plantation, farm forestry etc.

The Social Forestry Project in Orissa received massive assistance from the

Swedish International Development Agency. It was an endeavour for the creation of

common property forest resources for the people and by the people with government

support. It essentially involves a strategy of people's participation as individuals and as

members of local communities in village forestry activities for rural development and

poverty alleviation.

However, illegal destruction of forest still continues in plantation areas under the

social forestry programme. The head loads of firewood have been common in the rural

areas and this is considered as a self-employment for the tribal people. In order to contain

these problems, the Government of Orissa implemented a scheme since late 1980 to

involve rural communities to protect the reserved and protected forest. The scheme

entrusted the responsibility of fire-fighting and prevention of illicit removals and

encroachments in the adjoining forest to the protection committees in each village. The

scheme also provided certain rights to the villagers to use the forest to meet their

requirements of small timber, bamboo and firewood only for household consumption.

However, forests have suffered too much from the free rider problem. In various cases,

the forest resources being used as a common property for private gain. Further, the

present economic pressure pushes wider issues like inter-generational equity and

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Conclusion

ecological sustainability. As a result, resulted the forest have been increasing used rather

the preserving it for sustainability.

In increasing resource pressures and deforestation, various community groups of

Orissa began protecting forests since the 1970s. By the late 1980s, the community's

forest protection group spread throughout Orissa. Thus, on I 51 August 1988, the

Government of Orissa passed the nation's first forest policy resolution endorsing

community management practices. Thus, in Orissa, the village people took the initiative

to protect nearby forests, which the Orissa Government merely formalised at a later

period. Accordingly, villagers are assigned some specific roles in the protection of

Reserve Forest adjoining their villages and in turn, are granted certain concessions in the

matter of meeting their requirements.

In order to make forest protection drive more effective and transparent through

involvement of local villagers, the Government of Orissa issued another resolution,

known as the JFM, in 1993. For the effective implementation. various forest protection

committees, known as Vana Samrakhyan Samitis (VSS), are constituted under the

programme. However, the JFM programme lacks the participation of the rural people. In

Orissa, due to state intervention, the rural communities are reluctant to participate in JFM

programme.

Historically tribals of India have adopted the nature as their habitat. Their

subsistence pattern, economic, social institutions, beliefs and practices have been closely

linked with the environment. The relationship between tribals and forest has often been

called symbiotic. The sociaL religious and economic systems of the tribals revolve

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Conclusion

around the forest. A set of religious myths and social customs were built around the forest

to ensure that economically important trees are protected, human needs are met and the

species that are more commonly available are equitably distributed. Moreover, the social

and cultural life of the tribal people is closely linked with the forest. The belief system,

custom and tradition of the tribal people centered round the forest. For them, forest is the

sacred grove and they worship the forest god and goddess for their peace and prosperity

in their life. Given the extent of their dependence, it is not surprising that they have built

such a system to treat forests as a renewable resource. They have been using the forest in

their every stage of life at the same time managing and protecting from illegal

destruction.

In Orissa, the traditional institution functions in consonance with the custom and

tradition of the village. They give directives to the villagers to preserve and protect the

forest resources. Moreover, the belief and myth of the tribal society is closely linked with

the forest. Thus, the tribal people preserve certain species without harming them because

these species are counted as sacred grove. The tribal people have adopted the restriction

of using the forest to prevent the over exploitation of forest resources. These restrictions

are existing not merely in Orissa, it has been practised all over India. The tribal society

dissuades people from cutting trees by speaking of the anger of the gods and goddesses.

Thus, if the jungle debta (the forest deity) is angered, podu crop will be affected and

Minor Forest Produce (MFP) would not be available. Further, destruction of forests

requires prior sanction of the gods and atonement has to be made when they are forced to

destroy trees.

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Conclusion

The democratic decentralisation came into force through Panchayati Raj Institutions

under the 73rd Act, 1992. This Act empowers the gram panchayat to manage the forest

resources at the grass root level. However, in the administrative perspective, no

coordination was found between the PRis and forestry institutions over controlling forest

resources. This problem was further complicated in the fifth Scheduled Areas under the

constitution. In this competition of power sharing, Panchayats extension to Scheduled

Area Act, 1996, came into force. The extension act has been endowed with wide ranging

powers and functions at the grass root level. Further, it delegates the ownership of minor

forest produce to the Gram Sabha.

From the field assessment, it was observed that forest is the mam source of

livelihood of tribal people even through the government is spending huge amount to

eradicate poverty of the tribal society. It was noticed that till date the tribal people have

remained in the traditional pattern of economic system. Moreover, due to

commercialisation, industrialisation, and illegal destruction of forest the tribal people

have been losing fast their source of livelihood. Numbers of policies came to protect their

interest but it failed to address the need and problems of the tribal people. The democratic

decentralisation is one··of the significant steps by the government to empower the local

people to participate in decision making process, but still large section of tribal people are

not well aware about the provision of the grass root democratic institution. Even, the

government has not taken any concrete step to carry out awareness programme at the

village level particularly to the tribal people. The Panchayat Extension to the Scheduled

Area Act, 1996, came into force to protect the interest of the tribal people. The Act

empowered the Gram Panchayat to preserve and protect the forest resource at the village

176

Conclusion

level. The Act also empowers the ownership authority to the Gram Sabha to own and

manage the forest based resources at the village level. However, in practically, the Palli

Sabha has the power to approve various plans and programmes to the Gram Panchayat.

Thus, it has failed to achieve its objectives. Further, the lack of awareness among the

tribals resulted that the 1996 Act is meaningless for the tribal communities. On the other

hand, the process of development and displacement is one of the major threats to the

vulnerable tribal communities of Orissa. They lost their source of livelihood, home and

the social and cultural life.

Comparative analysis of Study Areas

The present study is based on the comparative analysis of field information that has

obtained from Lamtaput block and Damonjodi project area (which falls under Koraput

and Pottangi blocks). A total of 16 villages have been chosen for the purpose of this

study. Among these 16, 8 villages taken from each sample study area. In Lamtaput block,

8 villages are chosen in such manner which vary in distance from the block headquarter,

population size and geographical location in order to obtain relevant information,

whereas it is not similar in the case of Damonjodi. During the field study in Damonjodi,

factory area, information collected from the resettlement colony because after

displacement, some tribal people were resettled at the Amlabadi resettlement colony.

There were some of the displaced people who shifted to other villages, but it was not

possible on the part of researcher to find out to those people.

The Lamtaput block is about 57 K.M. away from the district headquarter, Koraput

and have no better communication facilities. It was found during the field survey, that the

177

Conclusion

education and the health care facilities in this block are not satisfactory. Though there are

some schools in rural areas of the block but they are not functioning properly due to

lack/irregularities of teachers. In the case of health care system, even the primary health

care facilities are not reaching to the needy people and also electricity and drinking water

are not adequately available at the village level in this block. There are some better

facilities in private run medical like Ashakiran because of its high prices, common people

are finding difficult to afford the available health care facilities. The existed government

run Community Health Center (CHC) is in dilapidated condition. The people of the

Lamtaput block are maintaining completely rural life style. The impact of modern life has

so far not touched these people. The People of this block are deeply bound with their

culture, traditions, customs and community solidarity. Whereas Damonjodi is completely

different from the Lamtaput block. The location of Damonjodi is near about 36 K.M.

away from the district headquarter, Koraput, connected with better communication

facilities because of the industrial area. The education, health care, drinking water

facilities etc. of Damonjodi are comparatively better than the Lamtaput block. But all

these facilities are enjoyed by those people who are employed in NALCO. The pattern of

life style of Damonjodi has modern outlook because it is an industrialised area. In the

post-displacement period, tribal people gradually lost their deep rooted tradition, custom,

social integrity and community solidarity at the resettlement colony. Though the tribals

hardly earn for their livelihood, the life styles have been undergone a drastic change. To

sustain with the modernity, they often face the problem of indebtedness. For better

understanding, let us make an attempt to discus the findings of these blocks in the

following way.

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Conclusion

Findings:

As per the findings of the study, it is revealed that the tribal people are the real victims in

the whole process of development through industrialisation, destruction of forest and

displacement. The large scale destruction of forest resources has adversely affected the

socio-economic and cultural life of tribes because their life style and livelihood

completely depend on forest and forest products. There are some commonality and

differences between the tribes of Lamtaput block and Damonjodi factory area in respect

to their close association with the forest. The similarity between these two study areas are

that, in both the places, people depend on forest produces. The followings are the details

on how the tribal people have been affected due to destruction of forest.

Livelihood:

As per the findings of the study, in both cases forest was the primary source of livelihood

of the tribal people. However, due to large scale destruction of forest resources, the

available forest products are now inadequate for their livelihood. In the case of Lamtaput

block, despite the scarcity of forest resources, they closely link with the forest for

livelihood and socio-cultural life. Whereas in Damonjodi, tribes are the worst sufferers of

the destruction of forest resources by the industrialisation. They have lost the forest based

source of livelihood completely and they have been displaced from their ancestral home

land. Even after more than 25 years of displacement, these tribal people do not have a

sustainable source of income. As far as the compensation policy of the NALCO is

concerned, job has been provided to one person of the displaced family but the rest of the

members were render unemployment. In the compensation package, land for land

compensation is completely ignored where they could have got the land for their

179

Conclusion

sustainable source of livelihood. The meager monetary compensation has provided to the

displaced tribes, but majority of them were not received the proper amount because they

did not have the land Patta (Land ownership document). Thus, the industrialisation has

the worst impact on the livelihood of the tribal people of Damonjodi.

In the Lamtaput block the studied villages are the home land of primitive tribal

groups. The tribal ecology of this area is mainly affected by the middle men, traders who

are involved in timber business and commercialisation of the plants which requires for

the near by the paper mill at Jeypore that has been run by Ballapur Industries Limited

(BILt). As result, the tribal rights over the traditional ownership of forest resources and

forest based livelihood have been suffered. These trends have doubled their hardship and

left many people jobless.

In the case of Damonjodi, initially people were happy with the money received by

them as their rehabilitation package. Generally people have not even imagined what will

happen after the displacement? And there was no any resistance from the general public

regarding their displacement. But gradually they felt the reality of life after deprived from

their traditional livelihood that based on forest resources.

Socio-Cultural:

Like the forest resource based livelihood, the socio-cultural and religious life of the tribal

society is closely link with the forest. Tribal people are worshipper of the nature and

believe that forest is the sacred place. In both the study areas the tribes have in-depth

tradition, rich cultural heritage, age-old custom and believes system. But in Damonjodi

area this has been gradually changing due to the impact of industrialisation. In both the

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Conclusion

places the tribals are facing problem in getting forest resources for their socio-cultural

activities, but the community solidarity is strongly present among the villagers of

Lamtaput block. In Damonjodi, the traditional socio-cultural and religious life 1s

gradually disappeared. They have lost the sacred groove i.e. forest. After displacement

the community solidarity is no more existed in the resettlement colony. In this colony,

even within the tribal community the class relation (economic class) has been very much

prevailing presently. It is found that most of the higher income groups are not interested

to cooperate with lower income people in various socio-cultural occasions. Presently the

traditional cultural life, i.e., community life, gathering has been destroyed due to the

impact of modernisation and the industrialisation. Today most of the tribal cultural

activities or festivals are gradually disappearing or whatever exists is of not purely tribal

origin. It has borrowed many of its cultural traits from the mainstream culture. Thus,

destruction of forest had affected the socio-cultural life of tribal society which is worst in

the Damonjodi than in Lamtaput block.

Health Care:

The health care patterns of the tribal people have been completely depending on forest

resources. In this regards, it is found among the tribal people of the Lamtaput block used

to collect roots, fruits, bark, leaves, flowers for preparing medicine to cure themselves

from various common diseases as well as some major cases. Some of the tribes of this

block are using the medical or physician prescribed medicines, but mostly they really on

the Aurvedic medicine. Presently tribal people are facing problem due to scarcity of

medicinal plants, but still managing from the community management forest. In the case

of Damonjodi people were worst affected after displacement and depending on hospital

181

Conclusion

for their health care. Sometimes due to the low income of the family, they are facing

financial problem to buy the medicine from the market. Undoubtedly, the health care

pattern of the tribal society has been affected due to deforestation but it is worst in the

case of Damonjodi in comparison to Lamtaput block.

Women and Forest:

Generally, women contribute very significantly in different aspect of social life. Similarly

tribal women are no exception to it. Particularly women are more closely associated with

the forest then man. In tribal society, women use to play vital role in contributing to the

livelihood of their family. In Lamtaput block women use to collect MFP, fuel wood, etc.

for livelihood and for household requirements. However, due to large scale destruction of

forest women are adversely affected and their health becomes a matter of concern. Earlier

the forest products were collected from the nearest forest of their village. But presently,

they have to go about 8 to 10 k.ms. and at the same time they are not getting as per their

requirements, i.e., fruits, roots etc. Thus, due to scarcity of these resources. they are

suffering from various malnutrition diseases. Before deforestation, they were easily

getting herbal and plant based medicines but now it became.difficult to collect. The case

of Damonjodi is something different. In Damonjodi, tribal women are completely lost the

forest based economic activities. After displacement, most of them are depending on their

head of the family for their maintenance which has reduced the social status of women at

stake. After displacement and resettlement in the resettlement colony, male members of

the family is not allowing the women to participate in the decision making process.

182

Conclusion

During the survey it was found that after losing the forest based economic

activities, the tribal women in Damonjodi are compelled to work as a domestic worker in

the higher income family. However, in most of the cases it was found that, taking

advantage ofthe poverty, the employers are sexually harassing the women. Also the most

tragic part is that under the compensation policy of NALCO, it does not include any

provision for women who are widow. After losing the source of livelihood widows are

unable to rebuild their future life. In Damonjodi, the displaced tribal women are worst

affected because they have lost their economic activities as well as social status and some

of them have lost their husband who were the main bread winner in their family.

Role of Traditional Institutions:

In Lamtaput block the traditional institutions are guiding force in management of forest

resources. Since the forest officials have failed to protect the forest resources from the

illegal destruction by the mafias, and the traders, presently this institution is playing vital

role in protecting illegal destruction of forest. Although the Government of India took an

initiative to include the villagers in the management of forest resources under Joint Forest

Management Programme but due to authoritarian attitude of the local forest officials,

tribal people are losing their traditional rights over the forest resources. In Damonjodi,

the traditional institution has no more existed in the resettlement colony. After the

displacement the tribal people have lost the community solidarity which caused due to

non-existent of traditional institution at the resettlement colony in Damonjodi.

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Conclusion

Role of Panchayati Raj Institution:

Under the PESA Act, the local self-government has endowed power to manage the forest

at the village level. The Gram Sabha has also empowered the ownership over the forest

resources for the lager interest of the tribal people. However, in Lamtaput block the

objective of the Act has not reached the tribal people due to their illiteracy and ignorance.

There are the tribal people getting elected to the Gram Panchayat due to the reservation

policy for the tribal community but they do not have knowledge on the various provisions

of the PESA Act. During the survey it was found that villagers are completely ignorant

about the PESA with regards to the management of forest resources. Further, they said

eve~. no such awareness programme has been carried out at the local level to aware the

villagers about the Act. Even the elected members of panchayat are not aware about the

Act as they are just a rubber stamp in the function of the panchayat. In Damonjodi, the

displaced people are under the Matalput Gram Panchayat. However, they have been

ignored by the local self-government because the resettlement colony is within the

periphery of the NALCO Project area. It is the distance dream of the displaced tribe

where the Gram Panchayat will move forward and preserve their traditional rights under

the PESA Act.

Further in Lamtaput block, the villagers said how the Gram Sabha can take the

responsibility in management of the village forest unless the people are aware about the

provision of the Act. The forest officials are exercising their authority as they are directed

by the government to control, protect and preserve the forest resources. Thus, the role of

the Gram Sabha is in the pen and paper, but in reality no such activities are being carried

out to manage the forest resources for the interest of the tribal people. The real sorry state

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Conclusion

of affairs for Damonjodi is that the Panchayat tries to ignore the tribals by stating that the

industrial authority is entrusted to provide all facilities and the panchayat does not

attempt to provide any facility to the displaced tribals. But those responsibilities of the

authority lies only on pen and paper and the tribals get nothing from either the industrial

authority or the panchayat.

Tribal Development Agency:

Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) is an independent body has situated m

Koraput to look after the development of the tribal society in the district. It is more than

two decades ITDA has been functioning in Koraput district, but till date no such changes

has found during the study. Tribal people have not developed their awareness and ITDA

is taking no such concrete steps to bring about socio-economic changes of the tribal

society. Most of the villager in the Lamtaput block said they do not know about the ITDA

whereas in Damonjodi they never know this agency exist in Koraput district. The

bureaucratic apathy and corruption are the stumbling block in every development

programme, it is also found in lTD A. The fact is that in the name of tribal development,

several plans and programmes have been implemented but the tribes have not achieved

sustainability in their socio-economic life.

The present study on both the areas shows that the destruction of forest and

displacement has been creating a negative impact in the socio-economic and cultural life

of the tribal people. The PESA Act has come into force in order to protect the interest of

the tribal society but the people, who suppose to get the utmost benefit from it, are not

aware about the Act. Besides this even the role of the Gram Sabha in preserving and

185

Conclusion

protecting the forest resources is not at functional at all. Thus, to achieve the objective of

the PESA Act, the government needs to take a strong step to create awareness among the

tribals and to check the bureaucratic apathy at the grassroots level as well.

Suggestions

Based on the field study, following suggestions can be put forward to implement the

designed plans and programmes effectively and more meaningfully and that will

ultimately address the living condition of the tribal communities of Orissa:

I. Every tribal should know the policies and provisions of the decentralisation and

grass roots governance through various awareness programmes. The concerned

authority should conduct some awareness programmes for the tribal leaders, who

are getting elected at the Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti, Zilla Parishad level.

2. The Government should take concrete step to spread awareness on PESA Act

with regards to ownership, control and management of forest resources at the

village level.

3. The devolution of power to the Gram Sabha to control the MFP at the village

level is a pipe dream in tribal areas of Orissa. To achieve this objective, the

government should facilitate the elected tribal members to know the various

provisions of the PESA through capacity building, awareness and training

programmes.

4. The government should provide all assistance to the elected tribal women to know

the provisions of the PESA and its implementation process particularly in the

context of forest resources management.

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Conclusion

5. The Gram Panchayat should be financially sound to procure the MFP from the

primary collectors of the village and pay right amount, which would check the

illegal MFP trade transactions at the village level.

6. In the Joint Forest Management Programme (JFM), the authoritative role of the

forest official should be checked while forming Vana Surakhya Samiti at the

village level.

7. The Government should recognise the Community Forest Management (CFM)

system while implementing the JFM programme at the village level. CFM system

is a much older institution which has been protecting forest resources at the

village level. To achieve the goal of the JFM, instead of forming a new institution

the CFM should be recognised and provided with all facilities, which will ensure

greater participation of villagers.

8. In the deep rooted traditional society, the concerned authority of the JFM

programme should create atmosphere for the participation of tribal women in

different meetings of the JFM. In tribal society, women generally feel shy to

speak before the male officials. To avoid such type of atmosphere, the concerned

authority should take necessary steps and appoint female officials so that it would

fill the gap of gender and the participation of female would make the JFM

programme more effective.

9. Since the development programme started in our country the victim have been the

rural tribals who depend on forest for their very existence. Prior to displace these

people from their source of livelihood, the government should ensure alternate

sustainable livelihood.

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Conclusion

I 0. The socio-cultural activities of the tribal people are closely linked with the forest

resources. To maintain the symbiotic relationship between the tribe and the forest,

the government and the promoter of industrialisation authority should grow forest

resources.

II. In any development project, the adverse effect is usually observed gender wise

and age wise, especially women and children being are the primary sufferers.

Thus the state authority should ensure better future for these people.

12. Mere compensation package can not solve the problem of displacement of tribal

people. Forest is not only the source of livelihood for the tribal people but it

provides employment to them. However, after displacement, those unskilled tribal

suffer from unemployment. Thus, before displacement the should train the tribals

so as to enable them in getting employment.

13. In every industrial area the displaced tribal people suffers from vanous health

problem. Prior to their displacement they used to take nutritious food, viz., fruits,

roots, leave etc; and were also depending on forest for medicine. Hence, the state

should provide better health f~cilities both modern as well as traditional.

Thus, the larger issue lies in economic priorities of tribals, motivational

approaches, partnership building with Panchayat, beneficiaries and forest administration,

encouraging traditional skills oriented programmes supporting capacity building are some

of the areas need to be prioritized. Unless these problems are overcome the minor forest

products and other provision on PESA would remain ineffective.

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