Nagpur: The state govt has set a deadline of Dec 15 to give property cards to all tribal farmers who cultivate forest land, thus speeding up implementation of the decision taken earlier this year.
Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, while addressing the media in Nagpur, said this decision will now cover even those tribals who built houses on the land before Jan 1, 2011. Turning to housing, Bawankule said, “We are also taking a decision to give a property card to every tribal who has built a house on any site before Jan 1, 2011.
Bawankule said the decision erases a gap that has lasted since before independence. Through one decision of the revenue department, the biggest justice has been done to the tribal community,” said Bawankule. “Tribal farmers have been cultivating forest land for centuries, but even after we got independence they did not have a property card. The govt decided that every tribal farmer must get a document of ownership. Ownership of houses on one side and ownership of farmland on the other was a main demand of the tribal community.
It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre and Devendra Fadnavis in the state, the only double-engine of growth which can bring justice to farmers,” said Bawankule. There were allegations from opposition parties that tribal farmers might lose their right to cultivate the land where their families or community has lived for generations. Bawankule alleged that opposition parties were trying to mislead the tribals purely for political gain. “Tribals have now understood who can truly serve their interest and bring them into the mainstream of the country.