NE States meet for consultation on Forest Rights Act

GANGTOK, 28 Oct [IPR]: A two-day Consultation with North Eastern States on implementation of Forest Rights Act 2006 and review of all other schemes/programmes being implemented by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India began today here at Mayfair Resorts, Gangtok.
The inaugural session of the meeting was chaired by Minister for Urban Development & Housing Department Government of Sikkim, DB Thapa. The Consultation Meeting, organised by Ministry of Tribal Affairs Government of India in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had the presence of MLA cum Parliamentary Secretary, Binod Rai, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, Vibha Puri Das, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GOI, Sadhna Raut, Assistant Country Director, UNDP, Alka Narang, Chairman, Primitive Tribe Welfare Board, TW Lepcha, Chairman Scheduled Tribe Welfare Board, Phetook Tshering Bhutia, Principal Secretary, Social Justice, Empowerment & Welfare Department, Government of Sikkim, GB Upadhyay, and senior officers from the Social Welfare and Forest Department, North-eastern States and Sikkim.
The consultation meeting aims to strengthen collaboration between Ministry of Tribal Affairs and North Eastern States on matters relating to STs, review the progress on implementation of Forest Rights Act, review ongoing schemes/programmes of the Ministry and facilitate release of grants to North Eastern States, assess the preparedness of States on rollout of Direct Benefit Transfer in the North Eastern Region, follow up on the progress in implementation of Tribal Sub-Plans, and formulate specific guidelines for North-East in various schemes of Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
In her key note address, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs stressed on the need for each State to formulate a concrete Action Plan for effective implementation of programmes and schemes related to tribal affairs and minority issues. She urged the participants to share their respective progress reports and raise issues which can be deliberated upon in the meeting.
The chief guest, Minister DB Thapa informed that the Direct Benefit Scheme is making good headway and the State has already digitized 90% of the records of the beneficiaries. He however opined that the North-Eastern States and Sikkim have their own set of issues and challenges which restrict the smooth implementation of central schemes.
At the same time, the Minister expressed hope that the two-day consultation would help address issues and genuine concerns common to all the states of the North East and Sikkim, and that a workable solution would be arrived at.
Further, Mr. Thapa informed that the Government of Sikkim has been giving due consideration to development and economic empowerment of various tribal communities in the State. He also mentioned that the State is proud to host this regional consultation meeting and expressed hope that the deliberations would be fruitful for the Ministry and the North Eastern States.
The inaugural session was followed by Technical sessions on implementation of Forest Rights Act, Education and Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, and Special Area Programmes and Skills Development.