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Darjeeling MP raises land rights issues in Parliament

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date10 August 2024
AuthorStatesman News Service
Publication titleStatesman, The (India)
Mr Bista highlighted a historical concern, explaining how the forest department, established in 1864, is now laying claims to lands that have been used for tea and cinchona cultivation in Darjeeling long before the department's existence. Tea gardens in the region date back to the 1850s, and cinchona gardens were established in 1861, years before the forest department was even conceived

"I pointed out how, despite this historical background and the enactment of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which requires the recognition of traditional land rights, the West Bengal government has consistently refused to comply. The West Bengal Forest Department has yet to implement the FRA 2006 in its true sense in our region. This neglect continues the British colonial practice of denying land documents to the indigenous people," Mr Bista lamented.

"Seventy-seven years after India's independence, the West Bengal government has still not granted parja patta land rights to the workers of these tea and cinchona gardens, as well as those living in forest...

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