Tribal communities living in the forests of India have finally made some headway in claiming ownership over land they’ve occupied for hundreds of years. They’ve been fighting for ownership for many years, ever since the Indian government claimed ownership of the land and deemed the tribespeople encroachers. For years, they’re communities have been threatened with demolition at the government’s will. Finally, with the help of GPS tracking devices, they are successfully being granted ownership of their homes.
The tribals have technically land rights since 2006, when the Forest Rights Act was signed. Unfortunately, the government has been resistant in granting ownership. The Forest Departments flat out vetoed most land claims. Tribal communities in Gujarat faced partial or full rejection in 128,000 of the 182,000 claims filed. When land claims were accepted, they were only partially accepted. Part of the problem was that the claims process required semi-literate to fill out long forms.
Action Research in Community Health and Development (ARCH) along with other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) appealed to the High Court. The Courts ordered a review of the claims, accepting multiple forms of evidence of land ownership, including images taken from Google Earth. The NGO activists equipped the tribes with GPS devices with which to plot their land. In order to claim their property, they simply walk around the border of their homes and farms, pressing a button on the GPS device.
The GPS data provided by the tribal communities is automatically sketched into a map of the claim. All the claims are then matched with satellite images of the forests from 2005, a matter of compliance with the Forest Rights Act. If two villagers’ claims overlap, the despite is settled by the gram sabha. This method has been widely successful. In one village, the government accepted 61 out of 63 claims. ARCH is hoping for a 90% acceptance rate in 150 villages.
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Tribals Plot Land With GPS Technology in India
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