Violation of STs Rights

• Context (TH): Earlier this month, the notification of the Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary in Erode district of Tamil Nadu caused concern among nearby forest-dwellers.
• They fear it could lead to the denial of their rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (FRA).

Issue

• Cattle grazers can no longer graze in the Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary.
  • Bargur cattle, a traditional breed native to the Bargur forest hills, may now be prevented from accessing their traditional grazing grounds.
• Six tribal forest villages were denied basic rights and facilities because these are not revenue villages. However, under FRA all forest villages are to be converted to revenue villages. These rights continue to be denied.
  • Tamil Nadu has been one of the most laggard States in implementing the FRA in the country.

Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA)

• It acknowledges the rights of nomadic or pastoralist communities, including grazing (both settled or transhumant) and traditional seasonal resource access, in all forests, including National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Tiger Reserves.
• Grazing rights are community rights of the habitation-level villages and are to be regulated by their gram sabhas.
• The FRA violations, in the case of Scheduled Tribes, are also crimes under the 2016 amendment to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

• In Sanctuaries, people retain their rights unless restricted, but in National Parks, they do not.
• No new rights are permitted once the notice of intent is issued.
• The Collector is to inquire into the rights of all persons, their nature and extent, in the proposed Sanctuary or National Park.
• Then, the Collector’s office must decide whether to admit the claims in Sanctuaries and to acquire all rights in National Parks.
• The law mandates similar procedures when some land is initially notified as forests.

Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary

• It is located between the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu and the Male Mahadeshwara WLS and the Cauvery WLS of Karnataka.
• It is positioned where the Eastern Ghats merge with the Western Ghats at the Nilgiris.
• It is identified by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) as one of the tiger corridors and is also incorporated within the Nilgiris Elephant Reserve.
• It is drained by the Palar River, which contributes to the Cauvery River ecosystem.
• Notable fauna includes tigers, Indian gaur, elephants, leopards, wild boars, and deer.