Tribals in Maharashtra to get separate land records; over 2 lakh families to benefit: Minister

Mumbai, Jul 8 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Wednesday said tribals and other traditional forest dwellers holding land under the Forest Rights Act will be issued separate land records, a move aimed at enabling them to access agricultural loans and government welfare schemes without procedural hurdles. Opposition parties welcomed the move, saying the government fulfilled a long-pending demand. Making an announcement in both Houses of the state legislature, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the government has approved a separate Form 7E (record of rights) and Village Form 12E (crop register) for forest rights landholders. The decision is expected to benefit more than two lakh tribal families across the state, he said. Bawankule said that until now, the names of forest rights beneficiaries were entered only under the "other rights" column in the land records, while ownership continued to be shown in the name of "Government of Maharashtra - Forests". "This created practical difficulties for tribal farmers in obtaining farmer IDs, availing crop loans from banks, accessing agriculture department schemes and receiving compensation for crop losses caused by natural disasters," he added. To address these issues, the government had constituted a special committee under the chairmanship of the revenue minister under the guidance of the chief minister, the minister said. Based on the committee's recommendations, the government has decided to introduce separate Forms 7E and 12E exclusively for forest rights holders. Under the new system, the name of the beneficiary will be recorded in Form 7E, while details of crops cultivated on the land will be entered in Village Form 12E. The minister said the move would enable eligible tribal farmers to more easily access benefits under the AgriStack initiative as well as other agriculture-related government schemes. Bawankule also said the Land Records Department will carry out surveys of forest rights land located in forest block areas. Once the surveys are completed, separate Forms 7E and 12E will be issued for the concerned land parcels. He appealed to legislators representing tribal constituencies to hold meetings in their respective constituencies to ensure that eligible beneficiaries receive the new land records. The announcement received support across party lines in the legislature. Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar welcomed the move, saying it fulfilled a long-standing demand for separate land records for tribal beneficiaries. Congress leader Nana Patole also welcomed the decision and urged the government to reconstitute Gram Forest Rights Committees. Responding to the demand, Bawankule said the government was positive about reconstituting the committees in line with the suggestion of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and would review the proposal at the earliest. PTI MR NP