Tribals allege forest officials abused them for farming in forest areas

Vellore: Residents of the tribal village Kolayam in Palampattu panchayat in Jawadhu Hills in Vellore district alleged that forest officials attached to the Amirthi forest range abused and assaulted them. They claimed the officials abused them for raising crops, erecting fences and strengthening the bunds (varappu) of their patta land and the adjacent forest areas.The villagers alleged that a group of 15 forest department personnel from Amirthi range came to Kolayam village on August 1 and abused G Sadaiyan and his wife Lakshmi, who were clearing bushes and preparing land to cultivate maize following rains in the last week of July.“The officials assaulted me and also abused my wife for clearing bushes in the land that we are cultivating for the second generation. They dragged me to the cattle shed in my land. Unable to withstand the pain, I pleaded them stop kicking and hitting me. But they were in no mood to stop the harassment,” alleged Sadaiyan, who was admitted to the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital on Friday for the injuries he reportedly sustained at the hands of the officials.The forest officials also reportedly assaulted B Sivaraj, a member of Tamil Nadu Tribals Association (TNTA), and D Mani of Kolayam for questioning their actions. They were also admitted to the hospital as inpatients along with Sadaiyan.“As per the provision of the Forest Right Act 2006, the forest department should give the title to the persons using a land to raise crops before the act came into force. We explained this to the officials and even showed the booklet of the Act, but the officials tore it apart,” said Sivaraj.The villagers stated that the forest officials had demanded and collected money from Rs10,000 to Rs25,000 per harvest of maize until 2014. They reportedly told the villagers that it was the lease amount. “The forest officials then told us that we have to pay lease for raising crops in the forest area. They had also promised to give a receipt for the amount, but never issued one. After learning that the forest officials were exploiting our ignorance, we stopped giving them money,” Sivaraj added. Members of the TNTA petitioned district forest officer of Vellore Division Sumesh Soman and the district administration demanding action against the erring forest officials.An officer in the forest department said that DFO has launched an inquiry based on the petition. The officer however said no such incident as claimed by the villagers had happened. The officer added that the department officers went to stop the tribals from clearing the bushes and saplings in the forest area.“The tribals are misguided by people with vested interest and middle men who promise to get them patta for barren land in the forest area under the Forest Rights Act 2006, and cheat them. We can issue a conditional title for the tribals who have been cultivating in forest lands before 2005. But the tribals are misguided that they can get pattas for the land under cultivation. Hence, they have started to clear bushes and saplings from forest land.”