JORHAT, April 18 – Taking a cue from the mutually beneficial experience of several State governments following constitution of eco-development committees in villages located at fringe areas of national parks and sanctuaries, the authorities at the Kaziranga National Park too have followed suit and submitted a proposal to the Government for setting up a ‘forest development agency,’ which could pave the way for better coordination with villagers living around the periphery of the 860-sq km park.
With a number of eco-development committees already having taken shape in fringe villages under the guidance of the Forest department staff, “our effort is to identify the backward rural population’s needs on a priority basis and see to it that their demands are adequately fulfilled,” the KNP director NK Basu told this scribe at Bokakhat.
“While the eco-development committees will together constitute the proposed forest development agency (FDA) under reference, its primary objective is to motivate and involve the concerned villagers in executing welfare works through employment generating self-help schemes in their respective areas”, Sri Basu added. “Though there are separate government departments to take care of health needs, construct roads, import education and dig fisheries, to name only a few, our staff, including ACF, foresters and so on, other than policing the forests alone, often put their heads together with the villagers to identify local needs and chalk out micro plans for implementation at the rural level. The schemes thus formulated are to be subsequently submitted to the Centre for receiving direct funding”.
Confident of getting the official nod to set up the proposed FDA during the current financial year, Sri Basu explained, “If and when villagers residing in fringe areas realise that by cooperating with the KNP staff they stand to gain collectively on all fronts, the communication gap that has existed thus far, will be bridged in no time”.
Citing a case at Basagaon on the periphery of KNP only last month, Sri Basu recalled how after apprising the initially reluctant villagers about the advantages for forming eco-development committees, the ruralites promptly decided to rally behind the mutually rewarding proposal, “all within a span of one-and-a-half hours flat, i.e., starting from the point when I called on them, then briefed them, and ultimately took leave”. Further “besides trying to create a sense of involvement among the so-long marginalised farmers, our staff occasionally manage to strike a rapport and also fathom how the protected forests affect the rural man’s life.”