Problems of Forest Villages in Assam Inhabited by Tribals

Abstract

In the early decades of the twentieth century the Forest Department had established some forest villages within the limits of reserved forests. These forest villages were established under the Forest Regulation Act 1891 . The original idea for setting up such villages was to protect the forest from damage done by the intruders and at the same time to have a full time or residential labour force for the Forest Department. The first forest village of Assam was established in Longai reserve forest in the year 1901. Initially, the Government allotted a fix area of land to the villagers for grazing and agricultural purpose. The forest villagers were allowed to use the allotted land but the right of transfer or Miaddi Patta was not given to them and at the same time most of the villages did have the requisite basic infrastructure facilities. Since then, no major changes has occurred in the developmental scenario or regarding the administrative provision of these villages. In such an environment the villagers had to adopt some new socio economic habits for their survival. Apart from facing these common problems, the tribals living in those villages had to face some critical problems like rights of land, political isolation, identity crises etc. Thisparticular study aims to highlight the socio economic aspect of the tribals living in the forest villages of Assam and the problems faced by them. For this Study 24 villages from across the state are selected out of total 233 forest villages. Here the growth and development aspect of the forest village are analysed with empirical data. This study will help us to better understanding of the issues and problems faced by the forest villagers.