(a) the number of people given letters regarding rights under Forest Right Act in the country, especially in Gujarat so far;
(b) the number of people who have not been given the said letter so far despite being eligible for it; and
(c) the efforts made by the Government to give the said letters to all eligible persons in Gujarat?
(a) As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (in short Forest Rights Act, 2006) and rules thereunder, responsibility for implementation of the Act lies with the States/UTs. As per the information available with Ministry, received from State Governments, till 31.03.2019, a total of 19,64,048 titles (individual and community) have been distributed which includes 87,215 in Gujarat.
(b) As per the information available, till 31.03.2019, total claims filed is 42,37,853 (individual and community) out of which 19,64,048 titles (individual and community) have been distributed and 17,53,504claims (individual and community) have been rejected implying that a total of 5,20,301 claims are pending and at different stage of recognition/verification.
(c) This Ministry has been issuing various instructions/advisories to the State Governments including Gujarat from time to time for effective implementation of the Act emphasizing that prescribed procedure, as contained in the Act and Rules thereunder for vesting forest rights in forest dwelling communities, should be followed to ensure that claims of eligible persons isnot rejected. States have been requested by this Ministry from time to time to review all rejected claims.
Apart from above, State Government of Gujarat has, inter-alia, informed that the implementation of FRA is reviewed in Sub-Divisional Level Committee, District Level Committee and State Level Monitoring Committee meetings held regularly and further, implementation of FRA is also reviewed by Secretary, Tribal Development Department and Commissioner, Tribal Development every month.
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