1.16 lakh forest dwellers get 1.69 lakh hectares of land: Minister

Agartala, Sep 28 : The Tripura government has distributed about 1.69 lakh hectares of land to 1.16 lakh forest dwellers under The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act so far, state Tribal Welfare Minister Aghore Debbarma said today.

Mr Debbarma here said his department had received 1.36 lakh applications seeking land deed, while more than 20,000 claims were rejected during investigation and 14 cases were still pending.

Besides land deeds, the department had also provided assistance to about 14,261 forest dwellers, he added.

Meanwhile, forest officials alleged that the Act had been proving to be a hurdle to implement Tripura JICA project, an externally aided project for poverty alleviation in the state.

JICA was launched with the objective of improving environment and poverty alleviation within 2014-15, but distribution of land deeds to individual dwellers under forest rights act was 'hampering' the community forest management approaches, they said.