Integrated planning for agriculture and forest land use is necessary for ensuring food, water and livelihood security to tribal people, Member-Secretary of the Planning Commission, Ms Sudha Pillai, said here on Tuesday.

Inaugurating a seminar on ‘Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 – Implementation, Livelihood and Forest Conservation', she said tribal people need to have easy access to financial and other services to improve sustainability and income from the minor forest produce that they collect.

Ms Pillai said that about 13,78,589 hectares of forestland had been allotted to 95,2369 beneficiaries in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. In addition, 61,754 individuals and communities had also been allotted land in Assam, Himachal, Gujarat and Jharkhand.

She said that achieving ecological stability and reducing poverty simultaneously could only be achieved if efforts were made to increase the income of tribal people, improved the weak public delivery system, reducing the cost of food and health services and their inclusion in developmental programmes.

Special efforts are needed so that the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 do not come in conflict with those of the Forest Rights Act 2006. “The two Acts are complementary,” she said.

However, Ms Pillai did not rule out diversion of such lands in future if forest-based livelihood opportunities did not provide adequate income support to the families and pressure for alternative use of such land became necessary, especially near big cities and towns.

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