1. Thousands of forest dwellers in #Jharkhand are at risk of being evicted from their lands due to failure of the state Govt. to fix issues relating to the FRA. This issue has been below the radar, so let me explain why it's imp #JharkhandAssemblyPolls bit.ly/2Pc4DYK
2. Remember the SC order in Feb bcoz which put over 1 million Adivasis & other forest dwellers at risk of eviction? Among the states which were asked to respond to that order was the state of #Jharkhand, which is going to polls today. bit.ly/2Pc4DYK
3. In mid-July, Jharkhand filed an affidavit in SC stating that over 16k forest rights claims were rejected by Gram Sabhas. Assuming rights of at least 4 were affected by 1 claim, then rights of 64,000 forest dwellers were denied. bit.ly/2Pc4DYK #JharkhandElection2019
4. What the #Jharkhand affidavit also revealed is that the Gram Sabhas which rejected the claims neither have land records nor documents. So it's hard to review if claims of encroachers on forest land were rejected or of forest dwellers with genuine claims bit.ly/2Pc4DYK
5. #Jharkhand Govt admitted in affidavit that implementing Forest Rights Act is "challenging" because people aren't aware about law & land records, documentation is poor. Clearly then the likelihood of wrongful rejection of forest rights claims is higher. bit.ly/2Pc4DYK
6. Incidentally, these are problems that even the Tribal Affairs Ministry under the Modi Govt had repeatedly directed the #BJP-led #Jharkhand Govt to resolve over 5 years. But clearly, the state govt has failed to do so. #JharkhandElection2019 bit.ly/2Pc4DYK
7. The problem of poor records & documentation is so serious that the State sought time till July 2020 to update the SC with results of its review of 16000 plus forest rights claims as the officials were busy organising the #JharkhandAssemblyPolls bit.ly/2Pc4DYK
