Bhubaneswar: Odisha has become a leading state in the entire nation to accord habitat rights to three Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) under the Forest Rights Act (FRA). With the recognition of the habitat rights of Juangs, in the tribal-dominated Keonjhar district August 7 by the district-level committee (DLC), the state has become a forerunner with three habitat rights recognised for the PVTGs, the maximum in the country. Earlier August 6, the habitat rights of Juang PVTG community of Jajpur district were approved by the respective DLCs.
Paudi Bhuyan of Deogarh district was the first PVTG community in the state to receive the habitat rights title March 7, 2024. While the habitat rights of Paudi Bhuyan have been recognised over 32 villages under Barkote block, habitat rights of Juangs in Jajpur have been recognised covering 13 villages under Sukinda block, and habitat rights for Juangs in Keonjhar have been recognised covering 134 villages across four blocks. PVTGs have been the stewards of their ancestral lands for generations, practicing sustainable living and preserving their rich cultural heritage. This approval not only affirms their rights but also reinforces the importance of respecting and upholding the traditions and lifestyles of indigenous populations. Recognition of habitat rights under FRA is a significant step in recognising and safeguarding the rights of indigenous communities. The Juangs of Keonjhar will become the sixth such title awarded under the category along with the Juangs of Jajpur and Paudi Bhuyans of Deogarh in Odisha, Bharia PVTG in Madhya Pradesh and Kamar PVTG and Baiga PVTG in Chhattisgarh, having legal title and rights over their forest habitats.
ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Nityananda Gond, while expressing his happiness over the development, said, “Our pro-people government is always there to see overall development of the tribal communities and especially the PVTGs, and with this Habitat Rights recognition, this will be more defined and concrete.” Habitat for the PVTGs refers to an area where these communities have both spiritual and material connections. The spiritual connection implies an area that is important to fulfil the socio-cultural needs of the community. This area includes burial grounds, birthplaces, temples, deities, ancestral lands, or areas used for any other socio-cultural purposes, such as festivals and processions. This area also includes places of customary land use for livelihood generation such as forest produce collection, fishing sources, cultivation areas, and seasonal migratory lands. Habitat Rights under FRA can be defined as a bundle of rights consisting of these connections with the landscape: livelihood, social, and cultural practices embedded in the territory that forms their habitat. Odisha houses 13 PVTGs – the highest among all the States and Union Territories of India.
The PVTGs inhabit 1,683 villages/settlements distributed in 285 gram panchayats (GPs) under 42 blocks and 14 districts of Odisha. There are as many as 1,79,742 households with a total population of 7,73,092. All 13 PVTGs have different socio-cultural and socio-political significance and different habitat aspects. SC & ST Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI), Bhubaneswar, has undertaken the research study on the determination and mapping of Habitat Rights of PVTGs under FRA across Odisha wherein Habitat Rights mapping for all 13 PVTGs have been done.
Under the guidance of SCSTRTI and with the support of partner NGO Vasundhara, the process of Habitat Rights determination and claim-making was done by the traditional institutions of each of the PVTGs. Out of the 13 PVTGs, the Habitat Rights claims for 9 PVTGs across 14 micro-projects have been submitted at Subdivision Level Committees (SDLC) and are at various stages of approval at SDLC and DLC, official sources said. ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Commissioner-cumSecretary Roopa Roshan Sahoo said, “The Habitat Rights for PVTG communities is a remarkable achievement.”