Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 24: District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) Budgam in collaboration with Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement (RTIM) organized a workshop cum legal awareness camp on Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA) at Goggee Pathri Nilnag in district Budgam.
The programme was aimed at creating awareness about this law among scheduled tribe (ST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) communities.
The lawyers and para-legal volunteers of DLSA Budgam and activists of the RTI Movement threw light on various aspects of FRA.
Chairman RTI Movement Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat said that FRA was not a land distribution law but legislation to rectify the historical mistakes committed by Government in past as STs and OTFD were denied various rights.
He said that nobody would get individual forest rights if he or she is not dependent on the land which is claimed to be under their possession.
He also told the gathering that new Kothas can’t be constructed under the garb of FRA and only those damaged will be allowed to be repaired.
Advocate Feroz Khan from District Court Budgam in addition to throwing light on the Forest Rights Act spoke in detail about the Juvenile Justice Act.
He urged locals to utilize services available under the Legal Services Authority Act like free legal aid etc.
Para-legal volunteers Nisar Ahmad Mir, Showkat Ahmad Wani and RTIM District Coordinator Budgam Mushtaq Ahmad also spoke on the occasion.
Members of the Forest Rights Committee, Sarpanchs, Panchs and respected citizens of the Goggee Pathri Nilnag participated in the workshop. They urged upon Government and RTIM to hold more such awareness camps.
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