Cross-learning and awareness building session on legal processes affecting rights of Adivasi communities

A participatory legal and documentation training was organised in Oriamal, Tendukheda Block, Damoh District, Madhya Pradesh by Bundelkhand Kisan Mazdoor Shakti Sangathan with 25-30 women from the community. The training was organised to discuss the Constitutional rights of Adivasi Communities, provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, and the implementation of individual and community forest claims and their challenges. Since this villages are located in the eco-sensitive zone of the Nauradehi sanctuary, the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 were discussed to inform the people about demarcations of Sanctuaries, Tiger Reserves etc, rights of the community and restrictions on activities within such eco-sensitive areas, especially since there is an impending fear of evictions due to recent notification of combining Nauradehi and Rani Durgawati sanctuaries into a tiger reserve.