Digital Goa, Jan 5- Goa govt has set the target of settling all 10,136 Forest Rights Claims before March 31, 2024 but it will not be possible to do so without the co-operation of the people, asserted CM Pramod Sawant. Govt is 100% interested in giving the land as per Forest Right Claims, he added. Swanat held a high level review meeting in this regards today. Forest Rights Claimants are given sanads of their land through a 3 tiered process comprising of Spot verification by the officials in the presence of the claimant, discussion on the claim in the Gram Sabha, completion of related process by the Dy Collectors office and issuing of sanads by the Collector office. As on date, of the 10,136 claims made, spot verification has been completed in 6,543 cases, 3,293 have gone through Panachayat Gramsabha while 1,777 claims have reached at the collector office level. Sawant said that many claims have been pending due to non-submission of documents, absence or non-cooperation by forest dwellers during spot verification, lack of quorum at Gram Sabhas etc. CM warned claimants who do not co-operate and claim large chunks of forest land as theirs that their claims will not be settled in the future as the matter is in Supreme Court. “Then don’t blame the govt,”he said.
Special Gram Sabha on Jan 26 for Forest Right Claim settlement
Sawant informed that a Special Gram Sabha will be held on Jan 26 in all Gram Panchayats under whose jurisdiction Forest Right Claims are to be settled.
