Subsequent to Moneylife’s report, the State Chief Information Commissioner from Maharashtra ordered that the 1,272 RTI applicants - all tribals from Jawhar taluka of Thane district be provided complete information about their claims to the forest land
Political leaders are working towards weakening the Right to Information (RTI) Act by perching political parties outside the RTI net and may come out triumphant on 29th
August. However, at the same time, 1,272 tribal from Jawhar taluka of Thane district have strengthened their position by using the RTI Act in their fight for rightful forestland titles and are now singing a triumphant note.
Political leaders are working towards weakening the Right to Information (RTI) Act by perching political parties outside the RTI net and may come out triumphant on 29th
August. However, at the same time, 1,272 tribal from Jawhar taluka of Thane district have strengthened their position by using the RTI Act in their fight for rightful forestland titles and are now singing a triumphant note.
It was a historic day for the RTI movement when on 27th August, 10 tribals, representing the 1,272 RTI applicants from several villages from Jawhar taluka, appeared for a hearing at the Maharashtra State Chief Information Commission (SCIC)’s office near Mantralaya in Mumbai. SCIC Ratnakar Gaikwad, who had called this hearing after receiving second appeal from the tribals, ruled in their favour.
Gaikwad has ordered a compensation of Rs2,000 to be paid to the 10 tribals who were made to unnecessarily file appeals. The SCIC also issued a show cause notice to the Public Information Officer (PIO) with penalty proceedings. The PIO has been asked to provide the required information in the format sought by the tribals before 31st October. Besides, Gaikwad had directed the revenue secretary to suo moto display information about claims under Forest Rights Act (FRA) for all applications received after 1 April 2011, on notice boards and on the website that would be updated every month.
Just to recall, RTI applications were filed in mass, on 6 September 2012 by the tribal villagers from Jawhar taluka, under the guidance of young local activist Milind Thatte. The information sought was regarding their claims for land ownership under the Forest Right
Act (DRA). Their land right had been approved by their respective Gram Sabhas after scrutiny of several government committees. However, the same was being denied or given partially to the tribals by the district collectorate, on vague grounds.
Act (DRA). Their land right had been approved by their respective Gram Sabhas after scrutiny of several government committees. However, the same was being denied or given partially to the tribals by the district collectorate, on vague grounds.
When the 1,272 RTI applicants did not received information from the PIO within the stipulated 30 days, 450 applicants out of these, filed a first appeal on 16 May 2013. On 25 June 2013, the First Appellate Authority (FAA) directed the PIO to give the requisite information, but the latter did not pay heed. Hence, the tribals were forced to knock at the CIC door.
When Moneylife contacted Thatte in April, he had said, “The Forest Rights Act implementation began in January 2008 across Maharashtra. Village forest rights committees (FRCs) were formed and tribal villagers filed their claims before these committees set up at different levels by the government. The committees verified these
claims through spot visits and measurements. Later, the Gram Sabhas either approved or rejected these claims. The claims were then forwarded to Sub-Divisional Level Committee (SDLC) and then to District Level Committee (DLC) presided by the district collectors. The SDLC and DLC were expected to clear the claims within 60 days each. However, the tribal claimants have received their Patta (land title) only after five long years and they have been given only part of their (land) claim. This shocked the villagers as no reason was assigned as to why less land had been given to them despite clearance by committees.”
claims through spot visits and measurements. Later, the Gram Sabhas either approved or rejected these claims. The claims were then forwarded to Sub-Divisional Level Committee (SDLC) and then to District Level Committee (DLC) presided by the district collectors. The SDLC and DLC were expected to clear the claims within 60 days each. However, the tribal claimants have received their Patta (land title) only after five long years and they have been given only part of their (land) claim. This shocked the villagers as no reason was assigned as to why less land had been given to them despite clearance by committees.”
Thatte then trained the tribals in filing RTI and 700 of them filed it in a single day at the Additional Collector’s officer. More followed and the final number of applicants were 1,272.
The RTI applications demanded -
1) Copy of letter, if any, sent to the Gram Sabha for verification of my claim for my land as per Section 12 A
2) Copy of recommendation made by the Forest Rights Committee or Sub-Divisional level committee to reduce the area of my claim for my land as per Section 12 A
3) Copy of the letter as per Section 12 A (7) letter of rejection or of only partial allotment of land sent to the Gram Sabha and Copy of the letter sent to me stating the reason for rejection or only partial allotment of my claims to my land.
Shailesh Gandhi, former central information commissioner and RTI activist, who is guiding Thatte, said, “Although PIO was asked to provide information, the appellate officer conducted hearings that became a harassing ordeal for the appellants. I attended some the first appellate hearings in Jawhar and realized that the PIO and FAA were playing tricks to deny the information to these tribals. It appeared there were no reasons for not accepting the Gram Sabha recommendations and asked them to file a second appeal. The PIO and FAA were refusing to give this information in writing that there were no reasons on records for the arbitrary actions.’’
For the CIC hearing, 10 village assemblies resolved to send one representative each to the SCIC office on 27th August. Villagers donated money to cover the travel expenses. The tribal RTI applicants asked for information in the following format:
No.
|
Name of FRA claimant
|
Evidences verified by Gram Sabha
|
Land area approved by Gram Sabha
|
Evidences verified by SDLC
|
Land area approved by SDLC
|
If land area approved is lesser than that by Gram Sabha, reasons for partial rejection
|
Date of letter sent to claimant explaining the reasons for partial rejection
|
Gandhi said, “During the hearing we made a strong plea to make this information available suo moto for all FRA claimants in Maharashtra, so that all tribals do not have to go through this trauma. This was a case of dishonest denial of information and there was no reasonable cause for denial of information. SCIC Gaikwad, took note of the complete denial of information and accepted our plea by ordering disclosure of information to all 1,272 RTI applicants, besides ensuring Section 4 suo motu disclosure of such information all over Maharashtra.’’
Here is the order issued by the SCIC..
The courageous citizens of Jawhar taluka will have to wait until 31st October to see whether the PIO provides the information. In any case, it will not be easy now for the district government to suppress the truth
