THANE: Twenty seven tribals from the forest zone of Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Yavatmal were on Saturday awarded a diploma certificate from the Mumbai University for successful completion a newly-drafted training programme to help their village community to better their cultivation practices, forest natural resource management and avail their legal provisions using a technology-driven approach.A brain-child of Manisha Verma, principal secretary Tribal Development Department, the diploma course introduced the forest dwellers on the history and importance of the forest rights act to the practical implementation of technology and geo tagging of forest resources.The pilot diploma programme in community forest management was designed by environmentalist Madhav Gadgil and MUs Dr. Neeraj Utarkar and Dr. Vijay Edlabadkar.The pilot diploma programme in Mendhalekha village in Gadchiroli district introduced the 27 men and women to do practical work along with implementation of forest management plans for their respective villagesAkash Tekai from Yavatmal, said, "I had no idea about forest rights were and was not sure about how this course would help me help my village and community. However, with the knowledge I gained, I was not only able to claim 84 acres of land that my family was entitles to, but also helped 23 others do the same in my village with the help of our telsildar.”Verma, said, “The community forest rights have been recognised in over more than 29 lakh acres of forests across 7,700 villages Maharashtra . This programme aims at laying a solid foundation of knowledge creation about the importance of these rights.It aims to weave the traditional knowledge of the tribal community with demystified scientific expertise and build the technical competency of the gram sabhas in terms of managing the community and conserving the forest and its resources.”Dr. Edlabadkar said, “Thousands of villages across the state have been given forest rights, but because of the gap between the community and the government the awareness about these rights and responsibilities is still yet to reach the tribals. This gap can only be bridged through education and these tribals need to be made aware of their provisions and laws.”“They also need a way to sharpen their minimal skill sets so they can use this training with tools like GPS, RTI, etc to change their tribal hamlets and villages for the better in the years to come. We have already started seeing the impact of this course as each of the 27 students has made some difference through their practical assignments in each of their tribal hamlets,” he added.

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