PM-JUGA: Support to states and gram sabhas for the FRA implementation and preparation and execution of CFR management plan

By Dr. Manohar Chauhan*

(Over the period, under 275(1), Ministry of Tribal Affairs has provided fund to the states for FRA implementation. Besides, some states like Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra allocated special fund for FRA implementation. Now PM-JUDA under “Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan(DAJGUA) lunched by Prime Minister on 2nd October 2024 will not only be the major source of funding from MoTA to the States/UTs, but also will be the major support to the Gram sabha for the preparation and execution of CFR management Plan).

About the PM-JUGA

Pradhan Mantri-Janajatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan (PM-JUGA) under “Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) is the mission to support States for the implementation of FRA, 2006. The mission is a 5 years 100% centrally sponsored scheme envisaged to extend financial support to the State governments for the implementation of FRA and support to the Gram Sabhas for the preparation and management of Community Forest Resource (CFR) Management Plan. The important heads under PM-JUGA for financial support to the States are; (i) development of State FRA Portal and its integration with the national FRA portal (30 Lakhs), (ii) for digitization of record, IFR, and CFR data including legacy data and claim process, for Mapping of Potential Forest Rights, (iii) Setting up of a FRA Cells at the State (Rs.2, 58, 5000) , District and a SDLC level(8, 67, 000).

Besides support to the State governments, PM-JUGA Mission has also provision of financial support to the selective Gram sabhas (1000 in the 2024-25) for the Execution of the CFR management Plan. Rs.15, 00, 000 will be provided to a gram sabha for one year for the treatment and execution of CFR management plan of 100 hectares. To help the gram sabhas in the preparation of its CFR management plan, PM-JUGA has also provision of Rs.1 lakh support to the facilitating /Technical agency/ NGOs. At best, one NGO/agency will be given support for 15 villages. These agencies will be responsible for the capacity building of Gram Sabha, for forest land survey, for resource mapping (management of MFPs), biodiversity mapping, and technical handholding support to the CFR MC etc.

PM JUGA is also considered to be the extension of PM-JANMAN programme and expansion the CFR Management Guidelines issued by MoTA last 12th on Sept, 2023 by including Gram Sabha as “the Primary Implementing Agency(PIA) for the execution of CFR management plan and by prescribing detailed format for the preparation of CFR management Plan. However, respective states and Gram sabhas shall have the discretion to revise the prescribed format as per the need and available forest resources. Thus the PM JUGA Mission aims to streamline and saturate forest rights recognition process, to meet the fund need, to capacitate various stakeholders, and to strengthen institutional mechanisms etc.

Initially, the PM –JUGA Mission will be for 5 years and likely to be further extended. The PM-JUGA guidelines has also provided detailed process for the approval of CFR management plan from the gram sabha to district, district to state and state to the central Govt. For the approval of CFR management plan, the state government will have “State Level Executive Committee headed by the Chief Secretary” and Ministry of tribal affairs will have “Project Appraisal Committee (PAC)”. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs at the Centre, the State Tribal Welfare/ Development Department at the State and the District Collector/District Magistrate or PO ITDA (as decided by the State Govt.) will be responsible for overall implementation and monitoring of the PM-JUGA scheme. To monitor the overall implementation and progress of the mission, a digital monitoring framework will be set up. The physical and financial progress will be updated and monitored by MoTA and State through PM-Gatishakti Portal.

PM-JUGA has been considered as a progressive schemes by transferring fund directly to the bank account of concern Gram Sabha, for preparation of Village Development Plan/CFR management Plan by the Gram sabha and making the Gram Sabha as the PIA for the execution and spending the fund bypassing Gram Panchayat and However, PM-JUGA has also been criticized for prescribing extra exceptive committee at the state level bypassing the statutory provisions and for overemphasizing the role of CSO/Technical agencies at different level and for preparations of CFR management plan bypassing the authority and wisdom of gram sabhas as provided under the Act and Rules.

Role of State Government and Facilitating CSO for the effective implementation of PM-JUGA

The PM-JUGA Guidelines has been issued and shared with the State governments in Sept-Oct, 2024. Besides, review meetings have been conducted by MoTA with the states to guide on the PM-JUGA schemes. However, there is no remarkable initiatives taken by the state governments till date. Under the PM-JUGA, states government are supposed to prepare “State Proposal” and submit it before MoTA. As the MoTA has asked and has committed to support preparation and execution of 200 CFR management plans in a state, and such support will be extended to villages which has got CFRR titles under Section 3(1) (i) of FRA and in Annexure-IV of the Forest Rights Rules, the state governments need to enlist and identify such eligible 200 villages and submit in their proposals. Besides, the State governments are to onboard more than one technical agencies from diversified subjects at the state level and technical and facilitating agencies/NGOs working on FRA and MGNREGA at the block and district levels. For this, the State governments have to prepare criteria for the selection of such NGOs to onboard. This will be followed by rigorous training of the concern NGOs by the State level Technical Agencies/ NGOs, members of the CFR Management committees for the preparation of CFR management Plans. Looking to the mess created and issues in the recognition of CFR rights in different states, the FRA SLMC should work to issue CFRR rights in Annexure-IV so that financial support under PM-JUGA can be availed by the gram sabha. Thus, it is the duty of the nodal tribal department of state governments to organize awareness programme on PM JUGA.

Besides, the concerned and active CSOs working on forest rights act in different States are suggested to coordinate with the State governments and district administration and should organise awareness programmes side by side on PM-JUGA and should to make the gram sabha members and local CSOs aware on the Mission.

---

*Expert on Forest Rights Act, presently working with the Foundation of Ecological Security (FES), Anand, Gujarat

Comments

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

What's behind Donald Trump's 'narco-state' accusation against Venezuela

By Manolo De Los Santos The US government has revived its campaign to label Venezuela a "narco-state", accusing its top leadership of drug trafficking and slapping hefty bounties on their heads for capture. This campaign, which only momentarily took a backseat, is a strategic fabrication, not a factual assessment. This accusation, particularly amplified under the Trump Administration, is a calculated smokescreen to justify a long-standing agenda: the overthrow of the Venezuelan government and the seizure of its vast oil and mineral resources. A closer examination of the facts reveals a country that has actively fought drug trafficking on its own terms and a US government with a clear and consistent history of destabilizing independent countries in Latin America.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman* Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...

Fate of Yamuna floodplain still hangs in "balance" despite National Green Tribunal rap on Sri Sri event

By Ashok Shrimali* While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday reportedly pulled up the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for granting permission to hold spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival on the banks of Yamuna, the chief petitioners against the high-profile event Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan has declared, the “fate of the floodplain still hangs in balance.”

Counterview

Search This Blog