NT Reporter | Margao
Former minister and Scheduled Tribe leader Prakash Velip on Thursday alleged that the state government had issued sanads to forest dwellers granting them only a fraction of the land they have cultivated and possessed for decades. He urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to ensure that these families are allotted the land they rightfully cultivate.
Velip said that following directions from the Chief Minister, the district collector had expedited the process of settling cases under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 with a target to resolve all pending cases by March 2026.
“It has come to our attention that the South Goa district collector has issued sanads to forest dwellers following due process. However, in granting the sanads under the Goa Forest Rights Act, many have been allocated a mere fragment of land, despite having cultivated substantial areas since the tenure of the first chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar. This constitutes an injustice. We implore the Chief Minister to act justly by granting them the land they have historically cultivated,” he said during a press briefing.
He said that one forest dweller who cultivated 10,000 sqm was allocated a mere 1,000 sqm.
“It would be profoundly unjust for the government to take away the cultivated land of the scheduled tribes and transfer it to others. I intend to convene a meeting with these Scheduled Tribe individuals who received sanads to verify the facts and subsequently file a complaint with the appropriate authorities, including the district collector’s office,” Velip said.
He said the government has the authority to allocate up to 40,000 sqm under the National Horticulture Mission, as permitted in other states.
“Under the law, we can allocate land that is actively under cultivation, rather than land merely possessed. Applicants normally claim to cultivate vast areas,
but upon conducting site verifications, we often
discover only a few trees. These individuals cannot retain extensive government land in their possession. What is genuinely cultivated is what is being allocated to them,” said District Collector Egna Cleetus.
