Compliance Engineering Journal ISSN NO: 0898-3577 Impact of Forest Rights Act 2006 on Tribal Women, A Case Study of Palasdari Village, Karjat in Raigad district, Maharashtra *Mrs. Shaila P. Hajare, Research Scholar, Department of Geography, University of Mumbai ** Dr. Prakash Dongre, Research Guide, Associate Professor, Nagindas Khandwala College, Malad, Mumbai, ABSTRACT The Forest Rights Act 2006 has an important Keywords: - Forest Rights Act 2006, socio- stepping stone in the life of tribes throughout economic, tribal women. India. This Act, “Scheduled Tribes and Other INTRODUCTION Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act”, 2006 grants legal Forest dwellers and different tribes were denied recognition to the rights of traditional forest- their basic right to cultivate their ancestral land and dwelling communities. New beginning to collect minor forest products from the British towards giving communities and the public a colonial period. To give justice to these ancestral role in forest and wildlife conservation. The forest dwellers, the Forest Rights Act 2006 was Act gives rights to the forest dwellers which passed, and implemented in the country in 2008. secure individual or community tenure or both. The main objective of this act was to correct the The Act gives forest rights to forest-dwelling historical injustice carried from the pre- Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest independent and post-independent periods by dwellers on all forest lands. Right to hold and various forest acts and policies. Forest Department live-in forest land, community right and right (FD) has continued the colonial authoritarian of ownership, access to collect, use, and control over large patches of forests and denied dispose of minor forest produce within the area communities access to their areas, resources, and is gain to tribes. The Raigad is a district in livelihood. This right gives opportunities for the Maharashtra where this act implementation recognition of rights for forest-dwelling quite satisfactory. The study aims to communities. understand socio-economic changes among In December 2006, the Forest Rights Act was tribal women. Palasdari is a village having passed which accords legal recognition to the more than 70% tribal population and a total of rights of traditional forest-dwelling communities 64 claims were sanctioned as per information and partially corrects the injustice caused by from district collector office, Alibag. colonial-era forest laws. The earlier policies and acts – such as the previous Forest Acts 1865, 1894, 1927 prevented the local communities Volume 12, Issue 3, 2021 Page No: 10 Compliance Engineering Journal ISSN NO: 0898-3577 from using the resources. This act is the flagship OBJECTIVE initiative of the Government of India in the To study the socio-economic impact of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for scheduled tribes Forest Rights Act 2006 for benefited tribal and other traditional forest dwellers (Recognition women under this Act. of Forest Right) Act, 2006. This legislation is recognizing the traditional rights of the forest RESEARCH METHODOLOGY dwellers for cultivation in the forest areas and for The present research study is based on primary having access to community forest resources data and secondary data. Primary data has been such as minor water bodies, fishing, non-forest collected through questionnaires and interviews. timber produces, etc. The researched carried out survey through For effective implementation of this Act questionnaires of 48 women from the Palasdari 15,200 village-level communities, 94 village. Secondary data have been collected from subdivisional level committees, 28 district-level district headquarter, Alibag, and also collected communities have been constituted under the from district census, books, magazines, articles. Chairmanship of Hon’ble Chief Secretary of The data collected has been organised in tables, Maharashtra in the state. In May 2008, the Tribal pie diagrams, bar graphs, etc. The data is Development Government of Maharashtra interpreted to get an in site of the socio-economic appointed Tribal Research Training Institutes as aspects. its agency to implement the Act and the Rules STUDY AREA: made thereunder. The institutes laid down Palasdari village is located in Karjat tehsil of several innovative measures in a detailed Raigad District, Maharashtra and it belongs to transparent procedure to instruct the field the Konkan division. The geographical location formations in the district for a coordinated of this village is 180 74’ North and 730 23’ East. response across revenue, forest, and rural It is located 62 km from district headquarters development agencies. Alibag and 6 Km from Karjat town. Palasdari is The impact of this initiative was regularly situated 57 meters above sea level. It is bounded observed at various levels of the state and the by Khalapur tehsil to the west, Maval tehsil to the Central Administrative hierarchy. As a result of east, Panvel tehsil towards the west, and Pen this, till September 2019, total 6264 claims tehsil towards the west. The total geographical sanctioned in Raigad district (office of District area of the village is 5.0508 sq. km collector, Raigad). In the Karjat Tehsil, 220 The Palasdari village has a population of 1246 of claims were sanctioned. Palasdari is one of the which 612 are males while 634 are females as per villages in Karjat tehsil where 64 claims were the 2011 Census. There are about 260 houses in sanctioned. Palasdari village. The average sex ratio of Volume 12, Issue 3, 2021 Page No: 11 Compliance Engineering Journal ISSN NO: 0898-3577 Palasdari village is 1036 which is higher than the females. It means out of the total population of Maharashtra state average of 959. Palasdari village 72.15% having tribes in the village. village has a lower literacy rate compared to Among them, 64 are benefited under Forest Raigad district average. The literacy rate of Right Act 2006. These tribal families belong to Raigad is 90.55% while Palasdari rate is 52.7%. Thakkar and Kathkari. Since Palasadari is a In Palasdari Male literacy stands at 71.57 % forested village, the traditional occupation of the while the female literacy rate was 57.45 %. people here is to collect legumes, timber and Schedule Tribe's total population of Palasdari folder and sell them in the surrounding towns, village is 899 where 434 are male and 465 especially in Karjat and Khopoli. LOCATION MAP OF PALASDARI VILLAGE; Location of Palasdari Village Volume 12, Issue 3, 2021 Page No: 12 Compliance Engineering Journal ISSN NO: 0898-3577 The map of Palasdari villages shows that the Figure 1 shows that the women age group 30 to village is surrounded by the forest. The forest is 40 years is more. Age group women 40 to 50 years and 50 to 60 years are equal in number but of dry deciduous type and located on the hill less than the young age group 30-to-40-year slopes. The western side of the village is coved group. Elderly women more than 60 are very less by the forest and the tribal livelihood is mainly compare to young and middle age tribal women in the village. dependent on this forest. These tribal people get fuel, fodder, fruits, medicines, leaves etc from the Figure 2. Fertility Rate forest. Palasdari village is situated on Karjat - Khopoli road. Tribal has lived in a small group of patterns of houses called 'Wadi’. In each wadi 2 11 there are about 70 to 80 houses with average 26 population of 250 to 300. As an example, 9 Thakurwadi is located at left side of Karjat - 0 1 2 3 and More Khopoli road and has 70 to 80 houses and total population of 250 to 300 of mainly Thakkar tribal Figure 2, shows on number of children of per community. women this village. Fifty-four percentage women having three and more than three DATA ANALYSIS children. Nineteen percent women having two children. And twenty three percent having one There were sixty-four claims sanctioned under child. Two women do not have any child. Forest Right Act 2006 in the village. (As per data collected from Alibag Tehsil Office 0.00872605 Figure 3 : Literacy level Sq. Km land has sanctioned and allotted to people here for houses only. Whatever ancestor 35 30 33 land belong to them is very small in size. Out of 25 sixty-four, forty-eight Tribal women responded 20 to the questionary. Data shows the impact of this 15 10 act. No of Women 11 5 2 2 Figure 1: Age group of Tribal 0 Women in Palasdari Primary Secondary Higher Degree secondary Education Level 20 15 19 Figure 3 revels the literacy level of tribal women in the village. As per figure in the village primary 10 12 12 level education is higher than secondary level. No ofNo Women 5 Higher secondary and degree level education is very low. 3 2 0 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 70-80 Age Groups Volume 12, Issue 3, 2021 Page No: 13 Compliance Engineering Journal ISSN NO: 0898-3577 Figure 4: Income level have got their rightful place. Further now they can take benefit of Gharkul scheme, as land is 15 owned by them. So many people these people have built their own permanent houses after the 33 FRA 2006 act got implemented. Now they are entitled to get benefits of water and electricity connections. Also, roads were constructed by the 1000-3000 3000-5000 government and these roads were connected to the rural tribal areas. The access to roads has Figure 4 shows income level of tribal women who is working. Sixty-nine percentage women solved many of the tribal issues, especially get salary around Rs.1000 to 3000. Thirty-one education. The availability of road facilities percentage women earning in-between Rs.3000 made it possible for the students here to travel to 5000.