CHAPTER-5

JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT: STUDY OF A VANA SAMRAKSHANA

SAMITHI
5.0 Introduction
What emerges from the preceding chapters is that the State agencies exerted
greater control over forests and brought about increasing commercial interests on forest
resources, throughout India, rural especially tribal habitations which had used these lands
to meet basic needs, experienced loss of their rights on forest resources. Employment
opportunities in collection of minor forest produce, forest works as well as in agriculture
are unable to support the tribals throughout the year. This led on the one hand to the
worsening of the state of forests and on the other in growing hardships inflicted upon the
tribals even for meeting their subsistence needs. In several regions, local people
challenged the right of the state officials to interfere with their forests and launched mass
agitations for protecting local forests (Dolly Arora, 1994). This resulted in the emergence
of two types of institutions in tribal areas. One was that the State changed its policy by
promoting local people's participation in forest conservation. To involve the people in the
forest conservation, State introduced Joint Forest Management. The other was the
involvement of the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in motivating and
organizing the tribals to assert their rights.

This chapter is an attempt to study the JFM and functioning of the Vana
Samrakshana Samithies (VSSs) in Rampa Country. The chapter consists of four sections.
The first section deals with JFM in general and the experience of West Bengal in
particular. The second section is on JFM in Andhra Pradesh, the third section is an
attempt to study of functioning of Gandhi Nagaram VSS, and the last section consists of
conclusions on the role of JFM.

5.1. JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT (JFM)

Lately, there has been recognition about the rights of the local people, especially,
the tribals and the need to involve them as partners in the protection and management of

148
forests. The National Forest Policy of 1988 envisages people's involvement in the
development and protection of forests. The requirement of fuel wood, fodder and small
timber such as house-building material, of the tribals and other villagers living in and
near the forests, are to be treated as first charge on forest produce. The policy document
envisages it as one of the essentials of forest management that the forest communities
should be motivated to identify themselves with the development and protection of
forests from which they derive benefits. Government of India has requested all the state
governments to involve committed NGOs for motivating and organising village
communities for protection, afforestation and development of degraded forestland,
especially in the vicinity of habitation and issued guidelines to all

state

governments(letter No.6-21/89-F.P. Dt. 1-6-1990).

Government of India proposed that access to forest land and usufruct benefits
should be provided to those who got organised into a village institution such as
panchayat, cooperative of the village or village forest protection committee, specifically
for forest regeneration and protection. The Forest Department however was to closely
supervise the work and usufruct benefits could be withdrawn if it was not satisfied with
the protection work. Although the exact nature of the agreement between the State and
the village institutions is not the same in all the states, it is ensured that the benefits goes
to those who are involved in the process of protection of the forest.

By the central government GO, nearly 16 states including Andhra Pradesh, which
have 18.43 per cent of the country's forests and 91.6 per cent of the country's tribal
population, have facilitated the implementation of this policy in their respective territories
by issuing enabled orders providing details of the arrangements. The nature of the
agreements arrived at, in various states have not been the same. There are important
differences between the states regarding the extent of power retained by the Forest
Department and those delegated to the people(Table 5.1).

149

TABLE: 5 .1 SALIENT FEATURES OF JFM RESOLUTIONS

STATE

ORISSA

WESTBENGAL

BIHAR

GUJARAT

1 1190

13 3 91

M.P

TRIPURA

10.12.91

20 12 91

RAJASTHAN

MAHARASHTRA

J*K

HARYAN

AP

Dale of issue of
resolution

14 I M S

127S9

RF

Participants

16 3 91

DF

Fores. Category

DF

(PROTECTED)

Sensitive to damage
DF

Adjoining

Economically

on, person form

person, interested

villagers

backward people

each family

in forest dev

DF
willing villagers

ndDF
willing villagers

16 3 92

19 3 92

D F and barren forests

DF

DF

families with a, let

penchavaiA FPC

one wage earner

[Link] villager,

13690

22

Demarcided prrtected

D F, DPAP areas of

*RF

watershed

one person from each

either actual users or

family of adjoining

right holders

adjoining villages

hamlet or village or

village less than

pmchaytt (min 10-15

500m normally deep

villages
natural reg ?00ha
Managemerit

one forest

unit

compartment

forest beat

village

village

max 50 ha

village

plantation 300 ha

not defined

notdefined

hhj)
5 or more, ranger.

Executive

3 or leaf forester

6 or leas

dependent on torn.

Committee

rpanch,ber

beat officer

vanpal.

min 2 women any

according to state

kotwar. teacher.

[Link]*

6<2womtn*2sc^0.

M(2women*2cjt).

(People's rep

rev irapector.

VA&panchavat rep

mukhiva-teachersar

other, rep of VA

goM rules

chief panchay at.

officer

forester , tparpanch.

Ranger

FDrtp Others)

VLW

panch. pradhan.

financial inst

anryodayacomm

Vas

forester'ROFf.

VAS

sarpanch

All honafined

cashew 25% sal

dry branches grass.

[Link]

grass and

all forest

Members

needs of timber

seed kendu leaves

leaves free other

MFP free of cost

foddertafter

produce*30% of

and fuelwood

on approved tariff.

produce available at

5ycars)free

income form

casbew&tendu free of

met free of cost

rest free

market price

MFP(except

nationalised MFP

con

MFPNFWetc

6 to I" B l e a r <
women

gramsevtf2nominiesof

Share of

all free of cost

all MFP except

all forest produce

commercial produce

Unreserved MFP

lease

bamboo)

Timber

25% of net income

I'J share of income

if state financed

60% of net

entire quantity J0%

except in certain

deposited as village

25% otherwise

mcome after

of net revenue 20%

aJ] bonafied needs

[Link] in different

25% of net revenue

IO be shared with Hill

25% of produce-1 3

areas

dev fund

80%

deducting all govt

for damage sensitive

met* 50% of net

areas such as block

from fmt) harvest in

Resource

of revenue

expenditure

area

surplus reveue

plantation scheme area.

cmhJund

Management Society

defferent methods of

[Link] area etc

Source: SPWD 1992:8-9.

150
All the resolutions of different states have provided usufruct rights to user groups
and clearly noted that land is not to be allocated or leased. The tenurial period for usufruct
rights is not mentioned in most of resolutions and the rights are confined to only degraded
forests. Village-level groups are to operate under the supervision of Forest Department
Officials as the

resolutions recommended village-level committees as functional

management groups. Some resolutions proposed the formulation of joint management plans
to coordinate the agency and community activities(Poffenberger [Link]. 1996). However,
operational guidelines for cooperative planning are unclear, and where they are outlined,
they tend to reflect the interests and concerns of the forest department.
The notifications state governments had given usufruct rights only to the user group.
Land is not allotted or leased to any one. All the State Governments adopted or
recommended village level committee as functional group which has to operate through (or
by) Forest Department Officials. According to one estimate, by mid-1992, more than 1.5
million hectares of forest land which is about two per cent of India's forest area, is already
being protected by more than 10,000 community institutions in 10 states(Singh and Khare
1993).
The involvement of people in forest management is started in some states like West
Bengal much before 1988. Since 1970-71 the West Bengal Forest Department has been
involving the people in forest protection and regeneration which demonstrated that if the
rights are given to the communities they would effectively protect the forests. The next
section is an attempt to understand the functioning of Forest Protection Committees(FPC)
of West Bengal.

5.1.2. Forest Protection Committees (FPC): An Experience of West Bengal:

The FPC programme began1 in 1971-72 at Arabari Research Station, which covers

1
Since the inhabitants of Arabari forest area are depended much on forest, the then DFO realised that it was
difficult to regenerate and protect. DFO contacted the forest villages and discussed the problem and gradually
established rapport and analysed the problem. As there was no employment opportunities to the landless
labourers especially in the lean period, they exploit the forests to generate cash. DFO promised to help them
to solve their problem in lean period provided, they cooperate with him. With the assurance of the local
people, DFO demarcated 1272 hectares of wasteland to be covered under plantation scheme and asked them
to form a committee(Malhotra, K.C. [Link]. 1989).

151
an area of 1,272 hectares. The FPC incorporates 11 villages surrounding the project area
with 618 households. Though the Committee was formed in 1972, it was formalized in
1977. All the 618 households were included as members of the Committee. The president
followed by the secretary and council members belonged to each member village and headed
the committee. When the committee started functioning, a man and a woman from each
member village guarded the forest every day. Each member was assigned a patrol duty for
one week in every two months. If a person who is not a member of the committee is spotted
destroying or cutting the wood from the forest, he is caught and fined or handed over to
Forest Department. If a member of the committee is at fault, committee listens to his
problems and assures him of work within the villages, only if he promises to stop cutting the
forest.

To gain community cooperation in protecting the forests, the forest department

created employment opportunities and offered MFP by giving usufruct rights. Sal poles were
provided to the villagers at subsidized rates and 25 per cent share of income from the poles
and firewood. And also they were given exclusive rights on all minor products. These
included dry leaves and twings, sal and tendu leaves, fruits like mango, guava, jack, bale,
tendu. Over the past decade the West Bengal Forest Department has developed a programme
with currently over 1,250 forest villages in Southwest Bengal have regenerated 152,000
hectares of natural sal forests. The forest communities are encouraged to form FPCs, to
guard against unauthorized cutting and grazing. The rapidly coppicing sal and companion
species generate numerous MFP to which members have exclusive rights(Malhotra, [Link],
1989).

Malhotra and Poffenberger( 1989) estimated the benefits to the members of FPC in
Pukuria village of south Bankura district and observed that the rapid regeneration of forest
yielded substantial income from minor forest produce to the villagers. In the village, 93
households belonging to Santal tribal community are formed as FPC in 1982 and decided
to protect an area of 130 hectares. The study shows that the income generated from all minor
forest produce indicates that a woman could able earn about Rs.2500 to Rs.3500, which

152
comes around Rs.7 to Rs.10 per day from one hectare. In the village, women collect of sal
leaves and make, which provides employment for a period of four months in a year and they
could earn nearly Rs.1040. Other important activities by which members of FPC are the
collection of bidi leaves and sal seeds. Annually, a household will get around Rs. 1000 and
Rs.92 respectively for the activities mentioned above(Table 5.2). Hence MFP collection
represents the primary occupation and is the major source of income for women of the
village. The regeneration of sal forests is combined with the benefit of protecting upper ridge
tracts where the forest is located, and this system seems to have potential to generate
employment and income.

TABLE: 5.2. INCOME GENERATED FROM

Product
Quantity per Ha. or
Family
Sal poles and 400 poles, 25m3
firewood per Ha. (10
fire wood
years rotation)
Sal seeds
77 kgs per Ha.
(April)
Tasar cocoons Up to 1280 per
family (Aug-Sep/
Dec-Jan)
Sal leaf plates 65000 per family (4
months/year)
Bidileaves
10,000 per day per
family( April-May)
TOTAL

SAL FORESTS OF PUKURIA FPC.

Annual Income
per household*
Rs.500 per ha.

Rs.92 per ha.

Rs.640

Rs.1040
Rs. 10,000
Rs.3272

* These estimates assume an average of one Ha. of produce per Household.

Source: Malhotra, [Link]., 1989.
Over a decade of experience made the West Bengal forest department to concentrate
on equity issues. They identified two issues, one is sharing of the benefits among the
members. The landless and tribals with low income are dependent more on forests for their
survival. When the forests were closed to regenerate, it is these communities who suffer with
decrease of income. The West Bengal Forest Department has attempted to respond to this
need by creating employment for these communities. At the time of harvesting of sal poles,

153
there is a need to develop procedures to ensure that the benefits are not captured by village
elites. And other issue is the inter-village distribution on which Forest Department is
currently focusing. The area of forest under each committee varies. Some communities now
manage over 500 hectares, while others have less than 20 hectares available for use. The
Forest Department is attempting to enhance equity by consolidating small FPCs into larger
groups, so that total forest income can be divided equally(Poffenberger 1990). So, the West
Bengal Forest Department has pioneered a new approach to regenerate degraded forests
through community participation.

With this background, the next section is an attempt to study the JFM in Andhra
Pradesh. The VSS, which we have considered for the study has an experience of only two
years. Hence we concentrated on the nature of involvement of people in decision making as
well as implementation of VSS activities and employment generated by JFM in that
particular village.

5.2. JOINT FOREST MANAGEMENT IN ANDHRA PRADESH

Government of Andhra Pradesh issued an order on JFM in 1992, becoming the
eleventh state to do so, naming the forest protection committees as Vana Samrakshna
Samithies(VSSs) for the protection and regeneration of forests([Link]. No.218, Energy
Forests Environment Science and Technology [Link]-I dated 28.8.1992)2.

Process of forming VSS in a village start with building of rapport with villagers by
the forest officials and communicating the concept of JFM. Villagers are informed of the
opportunities and limitations, and also the long and short-term benefits of the programme3.
In order to form the VSS at least 50per cent of the households should have to agree to

2 The GO was subsequently modified in November 1993 (GOMs No.224) and several new sectoral reforms
were adopted in the same month (GOMs No.237, 1993).
3
Explanation of the procedures involved- in the management of the VSS, roles and responsibilities of the
committee, operation of the bank account, maintenance of the minutes book and management practices and
make the people to involve in the preparation of Micro Plan.

154
become members, there should be one female and one male member from each household
as members and the managing committee should consist of 15 elected members (GO No.221
dt.l 1.11.1993). And other members are concerned Forest Guard, an officer nominated by
ITDA, and a local NGO. The Village Administrative Officer is an ex-officio member and
concerned Deputy Range Officer is the member secretary. Managing committee will meet
at least once in every month. The Member-Secretary shall be responsible for convening the
meetings and to maintain the records of the proceedings. A copy of the record of
proceedings shall be sent to the Forest Range Officer for information and advice. In case,
he finds that deliberations of the Managing Committee are contrary to the JFM plan or
relevant forest acts and rules he shall report the matter to higher officials
immediately([Link]. No.218, Energy Forests Environment Science and Technology
([Link]-I dated 28.8.1992). This indicates that the Managing Committee is closely
supervised and controlled by the department.

Forest area up to 500 meters interior from the R.F. boundary will be allotted to the
4

VSS . Members of village level committee are entitled to share all non-timber forest
produce except those for which GCC holds the monopoly rights. However the right to
collect non-timber forest produce shall remain with the members. In case of tendu leaf 50
per cent of the net income from increased yield over and above the average yield of five
years (in weight) due to better protection and management offered by the VSS will be paid
to VSS members equally. And the village level committee shall be entitled to 100 per cent
share in net income of timber and bamboo harvested from the regenerated degraded forests
as prescribed in the approved Micro Plan.

In Andhra Pradesh by the end of 1997 nearly 1665 VSS are formed with total
members of 3.95 lakhs by covering nearly 4,92,209 hectares of area. As a whole 47 per cent
members are female. Female membership is comparatively higher in Hyderabad and
Nizamabad VSS(Table 5.3) This was under the Andhra Pradesh Forestry Development
4

This restriction is being withdrawn in the proposed amendment and it will be based on the traditional use
of the forest area and capacity of the villagers to protect([Link].224 of 1993).

155
Project, assisted by World Bank, which lays emphasis on people's participation in planning,
protection and management of forest resources through JFM.

After a review of the

conditions of the state's forest, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh convened a meeting to
discuss the JFM Programme and emphasised the need to take up a massive programme for
afforestation of the state's degraded forest. It was decided to rehabilitate of 400000 hectares
of degraded forests through VSSs during 1996-97 and further 14,00,000 hectares over a
three year period. This programme, (which would not come under Andhra Pradesh Forestry
Project of Wold Bank) was re-named as Vana Samarakshana Udyamam, and later
commonly referred as CM-JFM. The Forest Department has identified some 8200 fringe
forest villages as being suitable for the formation of VSSs under the programme.

TABLE: 5.3. CIRCLE WISE

[Link]
Circle
VSS
formed
Adilabad
340
Anantapur
117
Guntur
124
Hyderabad
142
Khammam
193
99
Kumool
Nizamabad
204
Rajahmundry
57
Visakhapatnam
214
Warangal
175
1665
TOTAL

[Link] VSS FORMED BY 1997 UNDER APFDP

Members
Area
Area
Allotted
Covered
Male
Female
Total
(Ha)
(Ha)
19454
17151
36605
130348
30432
11351
10697
22048
35213
10825
11184
9571
20755
30025
6104
24577
27609
52186
41075
9694
15534
12156
27690
45904
14538
6439
5118
11557
27265
19311
43002
40756
83758
60688
12231
4842
3761
8603
19279
6559
13515
11720
25235
40386
21950
59548
47162
106710
62026
14697
209446 185701
395147 492209
146341
(47.0)
(53.0)
(100)

Source: GOAP(1997): AP Forestry Project: Status Note, Forest Department.

Adilabad circle recorded more number of VSS(340) by covering nearly 1,30,348

hectares and this was followed by Nizamabad and Visakhapatnam circles. Among the total
allotted area to VSSs(4,92,209 hectares), 146341 hectares (29.7 per cent) are covered. As

156
5

NGOs participation as concerned nearly 174 NGOs are involved in 554(33.3 per cent)VSS
in all circles. Table 5.4 shows that there was no involvement of NGOs in the circle where
more VSSs are formed.
TABLE:5.4. CIRCLE WISE [Link] NGOs INVOLVED IN VSS
Circle
VSS with NGOs involvement
[Link]
% to total VSS
[Link]
involved
Adilabad
Anantapur

32

76

65.0

Guntur

12

26

21.0

Hyderabad

3.5

Khammam

145

Kumool

23
48

85

75.1
85.6

Nizamabad

45.6

Rajahmundry

10

26

Visakhapatnam

45

176

Warangal

15

82.2
8.6

TOTAL

176

554

33.3

Source: GOAP(1997): AP Forestry Project: Status Note, Forest Department.

Though it is too early to evaluate the VSSs in Andhra Pradesh, one can see various
institutional structures that have emerged during the process of implementation, like the
protection of forests, and capacity building among the members especially in marketing and
the issues that have generated conflicts.

5.2.1. VSSs in Forest Protection

Activities like smuggling of timber and wood for commercial as well as domestic
use and grazing of cattle, especially goats, are primary threats to the forest regeneration. To

As per the G.O. Ms 224 of 1993, NGO are considered as special invitees in VSS committee and it was
changed as members of VSS committee without voting nght. NGOs are playing supportive role in assisting
the Forest Department and communities to develop joint participatory management programmes and providing
training, research and assisting in community organisation and field monitoring. As observed by Barathi, etal.,
(1998) NGOs involved in JFM of Andhra Pradesh were small local groups, with lunited area of operations and
small funding.

157
prevent these activities different VSSs in Andhra Pradesh have evolved their own methods
of protection. These systems may be grouped into three types i.e., i. Watch and ward system,
ii. Rotation system, and iii. Check-post system.

i). Certain VSSs are employing a person to watch and ward the area, who will be
paid for his services. Even within this system there were different of arrangements of
payment to guards. The case of Cheedipalem shows the VSS paying salary to guard from
the VSS fund. Cheedipalem is a village of Vijayanagaram district in which VSS has formed
in 1994. Forest Department has allotted an area of 250 hectares for JFM activities on a hill
called Gantikonda. The surrounding villages also depended on the hill for their timber
requirements. As the extent of pressure on forests of the area is high, the VSS has decided
to restrict their protection to the earmarked area. The committee has employed a person on
full time basis to watch and ward the forests of allotted area and paid Rs.500 per month from
the VSS funds.
In some cases, instead of paying guard's salary from the VSS funds, committee is
collecting a fixed amount from each member household towards the salary of the guard.
Rachapalli, a village in Makavaripalem mandal of Visakhapatnam district, is a good example
for this system. In the village, VSS was formed in 1996 by the initiation of the youth who
read about the programme in the newspapers. Area was allotted in Panduru forest block on
which four neighbouring villages also depended for their requirements. Since some of these
villages also have formed VSS, the pressure on the forests was declined. To protect the
allotted area the committee has employed a person to watch and ward by paying Rs.600 per
month. Each member household is contributing Rs.5 towards the payment of guard's salary
as decided in general body meeting.

ii). Another method, which is prevailing in some of the VSSs, is rotation system. The
committee will entrust the responsibility of watch and ward to 4-5 members each day on
rotation. This method of protection can be seen where the pressure on the forests is very
high. One of the examples for this system is Dandipadu village. Dandipadu- a village in

158
Buttayagudem mandal of West Godavari district, which is located on the main road between
Buttayagudem and Kannapruram, consists of 33 households belonging to Konda Reddy
tribe. The villagers are not involved in smuggling of timber but they depended on the forests
for firewood, timber for agricultural implements and collection of MFP. But the forest of
this village is known for timber smuggling by the neighbouring villagers. In 1995 VSS was
formed by the initiation of a local NGO called Sri Agency Seva Sangam(SASS). The
committee has identified that the area should be protected from smuggling, grazing, forest
fires and encroachments. Then VSS committee informed the neighbouring villagers about
the restriction on grazing in the VSS area. For the protection against smuggling the
committee decided to watch and ward the area by 4-5 members every day on rotation.

VSS of Ippapenta SC Colony has another experience in the protection of forests,

where not only the outsiders but also some of the communities within the village are also
involved in smuggling of timber. Ippapenta is a village in Chintakommadinne mandal of
Cuddapha district. The village is located near by the Pallakonda Hill Range. People of SC
Colony are depended on trading of forest produces including gum, leaf, fruits, timber and
firewood. Earlier, the FD officials harassed them, while they were involved in the collection
of forest produce even for self-consumption. On the contrary, these officials were allowing
the rich farmers to collect firewood, timber, free grazing of their cattle and smuggling
activities. And here is a practice of smuggling of timber by not only the villagers but also
by neighbouring villagers through tamed cattle without being accompanied by their masters.
In this situation VSS was formed by the people of SC colony of the Village in 1995. Forest
Department allotted 500 hectares of area for JFM activity. Initially VSS had a tough time
in the protection of forest in the allotted area and VSS has started motivating smugglers and
rich farmers not to enter into the allotted area. After a prolonged interaction and persuasions,
the exploitation of forests was controlled. Mean time, two villagers selected daily on rotation
has been patrolling around the forest area.

iii). In some cases VSS established check posts at peak smuggling points to restrict
the smuggling of timber. The experience of Juttadapalem shows VSS establishing check

159

posts to prevent smuggling. Juttadapalem is a village in Devarapalli mandal of

Vijayanagaram district. The village consists of people of the four displaced hamlets by the
Raiwada Irrigation Projects and they occupied PWD land for cultivation. While the all
households have access to land, none has any title or legal rights to the lands and unable to
get any credit facilities for agriculture as well as for livestock on these lands. The main
occupation of the villagers is agriculture and agricultural wage labour in surrounding
villages.

The village comes under the Mariki reserve forests on which several villages depend
for their requirement than the Juttadapalem. Smuggling is rampant in the area. Nearly 5000
carts load of firewood has been going out annually from this forest. At this situation VSS
was formed in Juttadapalem village in 1995. Since the allotted area is covered by the
reservoir at one side and a hill on the other access is only possible from the village. The VSS
committee established a check post at that point. Two villagers have been appointed at the
check post to check the neighbouring villagers from trespassing into the area. All the VSS
members have been issued ID cards, which they have found useful in apprehending
trespassers from adjacent villages. The VSS has collected nearly Rs.2000 by collecting fines.
Cattle and sheep grazing is also restricted.

5.2.2. VSS and Marketing of MFP:

Since the VSS has usufruct right over the collection of MFP, some of VSS have
taken up the collection and marketing of MFP collectively. Chengicherla has an experience
of this kind.
Chengicherla is a village in Ghatkesar mandal of Ranga Reddy district. Gouda
community is a dominant caste in the village and they have large extent of lands. The other
caste groups in the village are kapu, reddy, kummari, golla, Muslim, erukala, lambadi and
Madeira. Ninety per cent of households are landless. Reserve forest with forestland of
259.65 hectares is 1\2 km from the main village. Since the village is nearer to Hyderabad
the forest of this area was almost disappeared. In 1994 a VSS was formed in the village with
95 members, all of them are women, and later few men also joined.

160
In the past, cattle grazing were rampant in the area. Panchayat fine for such
trespassing is just Rs.2.50 per cattle per day. So the people tend to drive their cattle into the
forest and escape by paying Rs.2.50. With the experience of Panchayat, now the VSS fixed
the penalty at Rs.270 per cattle to prevent the grazing. At the same time, VSS cultivated
improved grass in a hectare plot. The whole plot was divided into parts and auctioned the
grass. The VSS got Rs.30,000 in an auction conducted in 1997.

Another VSS called Nanayala VSS of Chittoor district has taken up soap nut sale
collectively. VSS has formed in the village in 1995 with 221 members. The village is known
for different varieties of MFP, i.e. tamarind, soap nut, kalikai, ullinja, neredu, nelli velaga,
honey and broom grass. The collection of these different MFP is spread out throughout the
year. By the advice of Forest Department, the villagers came to a decision to collect and
market the MFP collectively. In 1996 they have collected 14 tonnes of soap nut. With the
help of forest department, each member household made an income ranging from Rs.15002500 during that season.

These experiences shows that development of marketing skills and benefit sharing
mechanism may create base to the members for future activity when VSS starts getting yield
out of their efforts in forest regeneration and protection.

5.2.3. VSSs in Resolving the Conflicts

In the process of implementation of JFM in the state, different conflicts have
emerged between the villages(i.e. between adjacent VSS villages as well as non-VSS
villages) and also within the VSS. These conflicts can be grouped into two types on the basis
of nature of the conflict. First, boundary conflicts that arise when there is an overlap of
allotted forest area traditional boundary of the villages. Gannela VSS had a conflict on the
boundary of VSS area with the adjacent Dappuguda village. Gannela is a village in
Visakhapatnam district consisting of 100 households. The inhabitants of the village are
tribals belonging to bagata, valmiki and konda doras. In 1996 VSS was formed and the
Forest Department demarcated certain area. But the area comes under the adjacent village-

161
Dappuguda, where the villagers are doing podu on the demarcated area. Hence the villagers
of the adjacent villages opposed the activity and destroyed the plantations of VSS. Still the
problem is pending. This shows that boundary demarcation is an important aspect while
forming VSS. Sharing of the benefits and conflict resolutions with neighbouring villagers
can be avoided only if the boundaries are clear.

Second, the regulatory conflicts arise due to the restriction on the use of forest
resources in the allotted area of VSS. These types of conflicts emerge even within the village
of VSS. The case of Pittagud is a best example of this kind of conflict and VSS efforts to
solve the problem. Pittagud is tribal hamlet of Jainoor panchayat, a mandal headquarter of
Adilabad district. Since the village is mandal headquarters, the population of the village is
a mixture of minorities, few trading communities and tribals. These are depended on the
adjoining Marlawai reserve forest for their timber and firewood requirements. In 1995
villagers of Pittagud formed into VSS. Since there was no other forest area near by for
Jainoor people, to meet their fuel wood, it caused a conflict between the VSS members and
people of Jainoor when the VSS started patrolling the reserve forest. When VSS has caught
three cartloads of fuel wood of Jainoor people, tension was built up. The intervention of
Forest Department by booking cases increased the tension further where the villagers
decided to withdraw the VSS. At that time FD did a survey on fuel wood demand and
discussed with the people for an alternative energy source.

As per the plan, the 12 households of business community and 18 households of

employees are shifted to kerosene and LPG, as the availability of fuel wood was difficult.
Agricultural households, who have cattle, were advised to go for gobar gas plants. One plant
of 2 cum. was priced at Rs.5,600 out of which the central subsidy was Rs. 2,500 and balance
of Rs.3,100 was to be bom by the beneficiary. The Forest Department was agreed to bear
50 per cent i.e. Rs.1550. About 18 households came forward to take up biogas plants. Other
small fanners and other land less with no sufficient cattle were given smokeless chullas and
they have agreed to use cotton stakes with brushwood in place of logs to meet domestic
energy needs.

162
These issues of conflict raised several questions. One, can the VSSs resolve these
conflicts with present nature of functioning. Will it be able to sustain the collective nature
in future while sharing the yield out of their protection measures or will it be dominated by
certain sections of people in VSS. These will be depended on the level and nature of people's
participation in decision as well as implementation of the activities. In this context next
section is an attempt to study the level of people's participation in a VSS of Rampa region.

5.3. A JFM VILLAGE: STUDY OF BAPANAMMA VANA SAMRAKSHANA

SAMITHI:
5.3.1. Background of the Village:
For the purpose of a detailed analysis of the functioning of the VSS in the study area,
a village, Gandhinagaram was selected. Gandhinagaram is a tribal hamlet, located three kms.
away from the mandal head quarters, Rampachodavaram of East Godavari district, Andhra
Pradesh. A stream separates the village into two streets, called old and new streets.
Gandhinagaram is a heterogeneous village consisting certain tribal communities as well as
people from plains belonging to certain castes. The village consists of 88 households of
three tribal communities and two caste groups. In the hamlet 88.6 per cent of households
belong to Koya Dora community and others are Konda Reddy (2 households), Konda
Kammara (4 households) Mala - a Scheduled Caste group (2 households) and Kamma (2
households) (Table. 5.4). Koya Doras are the original settlers of the hamlet and others are
immigrants during the last 40 years.

A non-tribal household belongs to Reddy community from the plains and this
household is involved in several activities ranging from petty business, arrack selling to
timber. This is the first external intervention into the hamlet other than state intervention,
which has initiated number of changes in the socio-economic relations of the tribes of the
hamlet. As reported by the villagers, one can observe that, though the reddy community is
a cultivating caste group in the plain areas this household did not involve in agricultural
operations. And they used to give credit by tying with several forest produce collected by
the tribals.

163
At that time, all the property of land and trees like tamarind, mango, soapnut and
toddy within the village boundary were under community ownership. As stated by a
villager, the atmosphere within the village community was intensely democratic. Each
member has equal rights under the leadership of the hereditary head (Kulam pedda/head of
the village) of the village. As we observed in chapter II, the village head enjoys no privileges
and exercises no authority over his fellow villagers; he presides over Tanchayat' but his
decisions must be endorsed by the opinion of the community as in other tribal villages. The
village council itself resolves the disputes among the villagers. The village council is not
an exclusive body but an informal gathering of all the householders. When an aggrieved
party lodges a complaint with the headman, he summons the villagers for discussion of the
matter. The village council was the center for their organisation.

Until before mid 1970s all households in the hamlet practiced podu cultivation,
while presently only 25 households (28.4 per cent) are involved in podu cultivation. The
crops grown on podu field are jowar, bajra, redgram and soma. Besides this podu, tribes of
the hamlet collect edible and non- edible forest products for their subsistence. The people
of the village collect various varieties of minor forest produce like honey, beeswax,
soapnuts, tamarind and tendu leaves. Government issued individual pattas in mid 1970's that
happened to be the major intervention of the state. As we observed in the earlier chapters,
the importance of traditional institutions has also started to decline in the village after the
reservation of surrounding forests during late 1960's and also land settlement operation of
1974 which gave scope for outsiders to enter into the forest area.

Among the 88 households, 9 households (10.2per cent) are landless. 16 households

(18.2per cent) owned above 10 acres of land by owning 249 acres of land with an average
of 15.6acres and nearly 23 households (26.1per cent) owned between four to six acres with
104.5 acres which comes an average of 4.5 acres. As a whole nearly 53.4 per cent
households owned 30.8 per cent of land while remaining 36.4 households owned nearly 69.2
per cent of land(Table 5.5).

164
The crops grown on apt lands are cashew, paddy, bajra, jowar and redgram. Cashew
was introduced by ITDA in the village under IF AD in which nearly 70 per cent of
households are involved. But most of them are leasing-out the produce every year to
non-tribals of the plain areas as prevailed in whole of the agency area. Rent ranges from
Rs.2000 to Rs.5000 per acre per annum while the non-tribal getting nearly Rs.50,000 to
Rs.80,000 per acre of cashew produce. Only five households are carrying out cashew
marketing by themselves. As far as the other crops are concerned few households are
cultivating on patta lands. Others nearly 15 households are leasing-out their lands to the
non-tribals of the adjacent town, Rampa Chodavaram. The rent ranging from Rs.1000 to
Rs.1500 per acre per year. So only 32 per cent of households are cultivating jowar, 20 per
cent households cultivating bajra and 22 per cent households are producing paddy in the
hamlet. One can observe that even though 'plough' cultivation was prevailing in the village,
most of the villagers are selling the animal manure to the cultivators of the plain areas.
Tribals of the village are depended on the trader cum moneylenders of Rampa Chodavaram
not only for selling their produce but also obtaining credit.

Since the village is adjacent to the mandal headquarters, the village became one of
the centers for forest contractors to get labourers for forest operations. Till 1980 most of the
households are involved in forest operations in the Rampa region as labourers. Presently,
nearly 25 households are involved in the forest works and most of them are women
labourers. Since Rampa Chodavaram is the center for the government administration, all the
government agencies are located in this town. This made the town as a business center and
created more demand for timber and non-timber forest produce of the surrounding forest
area. This brought changes in the economic activities of the tribals of the village. Presently
collection and selling of firewood is the major activities of the tribes of the village by which
they earn nearly Rs.250 per week. Presently 45.5 per cent of households are depended on
this activity for their cash requirements. Interestingly, the selling of fire woods also
introduced by a non-tribal in 1970's to the villagers, who cuts and sells fire wood.

165
The reservation of surrounding forests and state management system of forests and
the establishment of government agencies resulted in the entry of non tribal population into
the area as forest contractors as well as employees and petty traders and made the tribals to
enter into market relations. The alien systems

destroyed the traditional subsistent

institutions. The villagers are totally depended on forest works as labourers, collection of
firewood and the traders/money lenders. Presently the hamlet is known for the conflicts
among the tribals and also for prostitution. At this juncture, forest department with the help
of local NGO introduced JFM activities in 1995 and formed VSS.

5.3.2 Members of the VSS

The VSS was formed with seventy-five per cent(66) of the households in the village.
Nearly two members from each household (mostly wife and husband) are the members of
VSS which comes around to a total of 139 members. Since Koya Dora is the dominant
community in the village, 73.1 per cent of that particular tribal household became the
members of the VSS. Among the member households 64.8 per cent belong to Koya tribe.
All the households of remaining tribes also joined as the members. One household of
Kamma of plain area is also a member and remaining one household of same caste did not
join because he is an employee in ITDA(Table 5.5). Among the non-members seven
households owned more than 10 acres of land each while eight households owned between
6-10 acres of land. Two households did not join as the members because they are employees.
The non-members who have more than eight acres of land are busy with their own
agricultural operations and they expressed that JFM is not useful to them in any way. Other
households expressed that they did not know about the formation of V.S.S. in their village
and some of them express that they want to keep themselves away from the forest
department because of their bitter experiences with the forest department when they were
selling fire wood. It indicates the failure of the forest department in creating awareness on
the JFM and its nature and importance before formation of the VSS.

When it comes to the members in terms of land holdings, 10.6 per cent (7) member
households are landless. The others are 7.6 per cent households owned less than 2 acres of

166
land, 25.8 per cent (17) householders owned between 2-4 acres of land, 30.3 per cent (20)
households with 4-6 acres, 9.1 per cent (6) households owned between 6-8 acres and 16.6
per cent (11) households owned above 8 acres of land. Table 5.6 shows that among the total
landless households nearly 77.8 per cent joined as members and 89.5 percent among the
households who owns 2-4 acres of land became the members of the VSS, while 40 per cent
among the households whose landholding are between 8-10 acres have joined(Table 5.6).
This shows that the households who have smallholdings became the part of VSS because
of their dependency on forest resources mainly in collection of MFP and selling of firewood
and for employment.

TABLE: 5.5. TRIBE WISE NUMBER OF MEMBER HOUSEHOLDS OF GANDHI

NAGARAM VSS
Koya
Konda
Konda
Mala
Kamma
TOTAL
Dora
Reddy
Kammara
(s.c.)
(o.c)
Member
Households
Non-member
HHs

57
(73.1)

TOTAL

78
(100)

21
(26.9)

2
(100)
2
(100)

4
(100)
4
(100)

2
(100)
2
(100)

1
(50.0)

66
(75.0)

1
(50.0)
2
(100)

22
(25.0)
88
(100)

Source: Field. Study

5.3.3. Location of JFM:
The area demarcated for the VSS is located in between Rampa Chodavaram and
Gandhinagaram. The area comes under Geddada beat, which comes under the jurisdiction
of Rampa Chodavaram range, and lies between 17"-25' and 17"-27' latitude and 81 "-42' and
81 "-47 longitude of notified scheduled area. One can observe that the area is very nearer to
Rampachodavaram(0.3 kms.) than the JFM proposed village. The total proposed area is 250
hectares, which can be covered in five years(Micro Plan of V.S.S, 1995).

167
TABLE: 5.6. LAND HOLDINGS-WISE NUMBER OF VSS MEMBER
HOUSEHOLDS
Size of
Total No. of
Extent
VSS
% to total
Holding
Households
HHs of each
Member
(in Acres)
class
Households
9
7
Lnadless
77.8
(10.2)
(10.6)
1-2

5
(5.7)

2-4

19
(21.6)

6.5
54.0

6-8

23
(26.1)
11
(12.5)

8-10

5
(5.7)

43.5

10 and
above

16
(10.2)

249.0

88
(100)

535.5

4-6

TOTAL

104.5
78.0

5
(7.6)
17
(25.8)
20
(30.3)
6
(9.1)
2
(3.0)
9
(13.6)
66
(100)

71.4
89.5
87.0
54.5
40.0
56.3
75.0

Source: Field Study

5.3.4. Micro Plan:

Micro Plan6 of Gandhinagaram has explained local conditions, the availability of
basic needs of the people, the conditions of the forest and suggestions for the development.
As stated in the micro plan, the plan was prepared jointly by committee of the VSS, local
NGO and Forest Department. But majority of VSS members and the local NGO has reported
that they did not participate in the preparation of the plan. And the information reported in

JFM plan is called as Micro Plan for the VSS is prepared by the Managing Committee and the concerned
section staff through a process of mutual consultation with all the sections of the society including tribals,
women and other weaker sections. The multi-disciplinary team transects the forest area proposed for JFM with
the villagers and the status of the forest is recorded along with the species. Similarly the causes for degradation
of the forests and the present status of the forest are identified. A man power availability calendar is also
prepared according to the employment status of the village and the number of labourers available.

168
the micro-plan indicates forest department itself prepared the plan. The document is seems
to be basically a plan for regenerate forests and not emphasised much on the management
aspects for the functioning of VSS. In 1995-96 the VSS has covered 50 hectares and given
preference to bamboo by covering nearly 40 hectares. The other species amla, tamarind,
black cashew, teak and neredu are covered in remaining 10 hectares.

5.3.5. Participation of V.S.S. members:

Participation of V.S.S. member can be analyzed in two levels. One is at decision
making level, which can be identified by looking at the level of participation in General
Body meetings in which decisions are made. Second is participation at implementation level,
which will be reflected by the labourers who are involving in activities of VSS.

A. Participation in General Body Meetings:

General Body plays an important role in the activities of JFM. It has to approve all
the activities which they are going to adopt. The Managing Committee has to seek approval
of General Body for all the financial transactions.

The concerned Range Officer is the

convenor of the General Body of the VSS. He will prepare the agenda of General Body
Meeting and maintains minute book wherein the proceedings of GBM held from time to
time will be recorded. All the proceedings of the GBM should be within the relevant forest
act and rules. General Body decides action plan as well as required number of labourer for
each activity and allocation of the funds to activities and distribution of the benefits among
the members.

In Gandhinagaram, the first GBM of the VSS was held after the approval of Micro
Plan in June 1995. The major decisions, which have been taken, are auction of wood
collected from clearing of the area allotted for the period of 1995. Apart from the auction
of wood, GBM also decided to represent to the concerned authorities for housing and also
draught animals. This meeting was attended by 61.2 per cent(85) of the members. The
second GBM was held in the same month to discuss about labour requirements for
plantation work. In the second GBM 39.6 per cent(55) of the members attended. And in the

169
third GBM which was held in June 1996, 33.1 per cent(46) of the members attended(Table
5.7). This shows a gradual decline of member's participation in GBMs in which major
decisions are supposed to be taken. As per the female members are concerned, among the
attended members 32(37.6per cent) for the first meeting, 18(32.7 per cent) in second meeting
and in the last 16(34.8) members attended.

TABLE: 5.7. PARTICIPATION IN GENERAL BODY MEETING DURING 1995

AND 1996
29th June 1995
4th June 1995
16th June 1996

No. of Persons attended

No. of Persons not attended
TOTAL

85
(61.2)
54
(38.8)

55
(39.6)
84
(60.4)

46
(33.1)
93
(66.9)

139
(100)

139
(100)

139
(100)

Source: Minutes of VSS.

On the basis of the landholdings, the members who have more than six acres of land
have attended more in number when compared to landless and members who owns less than
six acres of land in the first GBM. Though less number of people attended in second and
third GBM, member who have more than six acres have attended more(Table 5.8). Thus,
those who have large holdings and less dependents on forests are participating in GBM
where major decisions are suppose to be taken regarding the activities and financial
allocation.
We have made an attempt to study the reasons for the less participation in GBM on
the basis of four broad reasons i.e., not informed about the meeting, due to personal work,
not interested to attend and other reasons. Among the members those who have not attended
GBMs 49.8 per cent were not informed about the meeting(Table 5.9). Table 5.10 shows that
landholding and reasons wise absentee members in general body meetings. On the basis of
the landholdings majority of the members those who have land between 2-6 acres are not
informed about the GBM and very few reported that they are not interested. Majority of the

170

members those who have more than six acres are not attended because of their personal
work. The members who have reported other reasons i.e. not interested as well as other
reasons are also higher in less than six acres category. This shows not only participation is
less in decision making but also those who have more than six acres of land are participating
more. Hence the participation of lower class in the decision making process is comparatively
less. As we have observed in earlier chapter, traditionally all the households of the village
were informed about the village council meetings through their traditional means of
communication. At one side JFM is not adopting the methods of indigenous institutions and
at another side it is controlled and working within the guidelines of the Act. So there is no
scope to adopt the systems of traditional institutions at least by the local members by
themselves and therefore the tribals always feel it as an alien institution.

TABLE: 5.8. LANDHOLDING WISE PARTICIPATION IN GENERAL BODY

MEETINGS
Size of
Land
holdings

Total
members
ofVSS

Members Attended
4th June 1995

2-4

34
(24.4)

Attended
7
(8.2)
4
(4.7)
18
(21.2)

4-6

42
(30.2)

25
(29.4)

59.5

6-8

14
(10.1)

10
(11.8)

71.4

8-10

4
(2.9)

10 and
above
TOTAL

20
(14.4)
139
(100)

4
(4.7)
17
(20.0)
85
(100)

Landless
1-2

14
(10.1)
11
(7.9)

%*

50.0
36.4
52.9

29th June 1995

Attended
5
(9.1)
5
(9.1)
11
(20.0)
17
(30.9)
6
(10.9)

35.7
45.5
32.4

16th June 1996

Attended
4
(8.7)
2
(4.3)
10
(21.7)

18.2
29.4

12
(26.2)

28.6

42.9

8
(17.4)

57.1
50.0

2
(3.6)

50.0

2
(4.3)

85.0

9
(16.4)
55
(100)

45.0

8
(17.4)
46
(100)

* Percentages to total members of respective class.

Source: Field Study

28.6

40.5

100.0

61.2

%*

39.6

40.0
33.1

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TABLE: 5.9. REASON WISE [Link] PERSONS NOT ATTENDED GENER4L
BODY MEETINGS
[Link]

1.
2.

Not Informed
Due to personal work

3.

Not interested

4.

Other reasons

5.

Second GBM

First GBM

Reasons

TOTAL

Third GBM

Average

25
(46.3)

42
(50.0)

47
(50.5)

38
(49.4)

12
(22.2)

9
(10.7)

15
(16.1)

12
(15.6)

11
(20.4)

22
(26.2)

18
(19.4)

17
(22.1)

6
(11.1)
54
(100)

11
(13.1)

13
(14.0)

10
(12.9)

84
(100)

93
(100)

77
(100)

Source: Field Study

TABLE: 5.10. LAND HOLDIGS AND REASON WISE [Link] PERSONS NOT
ATTENDED THE MEETINGS
Size of
land
holding

I General Body Meeting

A

II General Body Meeting

D

1
(16.7)

6
(14.3)

Landless

5
(20.0)

1
(8.3)

1-2

3
(12.0)

2
(16.7)

1
(9.0)

1
(16.7)

4
(9.5)

2-4

8
(32.0)

4
(33.3)

2
(18.2)

2
(33.3)

11
(26.2)

4-6

7
(28.0)

5
(41.7)

3
(27 3)

2
(333)

18
(42.8)

6-8

1
(4.0)

1
(2.4)

3
(27.3)

1
(112)

3
(33.3)

III General Body Meeting

2
(9.1)

1
(9.0)

5
(10.6)

2
(182)

6
(12.8)

7
(31 8)

4
(36.4)

11
(23.4)

5
(22.7)

2
(18.2)

4
(18.2)

TOTAL

25
(100)

2
(182)
12
(100)

(100)

6
(100)

D
2
(15.4)

2
(11.1)

1
(7.7)

4
(26.7)

7
(38.9)

2
(15.4)

17
(36.2)

4
(26.7)

5
(27.8)

4
(30.7)

3
(6.4)

1
(6.6)

2
(M 1)

1
(6.6)

(222)
1
(4.0)

1
(6.6)

C
2
(11.1)

8-10

10 and
above

2
(48)

3
(33.3)

4
(18.2)

2
(18.2)

5
(10.6)

4
(267)

42
(100)

9
(100)

22
(100)

11
(100)

47
(100)

15
(100)

A: Not informed; B: Due to personal work; C: Not interested; D: Other reasons

Source: Field Study

1
(7.7)

18
(100)

3
(23.1)
13
(100)

172
B. Participation in the Activities:
The activities which were mostly taken up by the VSS can be grouped into four
types i.e., i. clearing of the unwanted growth of the tree, ii. pit digging, staking and
plantation, iii. gap filling and weeding, and iv. gully plugging and ring mark. The VSS
committee, mostly president will look after all the activities to complete within time by
employing required labourers. Since participating in labour activity is not compulsory for
the all members the member who needs employment during that season are participating in
the activities. The Committee does not employ more than required labour. So there is no
guaranty of getting labour work for all required members. Committee has fixed the wage
rate for activities at Rs.25 per day. We have considered 1995-96 for study to analyse the
participation of the VSS members in these activities.

In 1995-96 VSS has covered 50 hectares of land for which it takes 53 days to
complete the work. VSS has taken 25 days for clearing, which requires more labour than
other activities. The total man-days of employment provided by the clearing are 1375. In this
activity, each day an average of 55 (39.6 per cent) members are participated and earned an
average of Rs.625 as wage. Each day an average of 53(38.1 per cent) of the members
participated in pit digging, staking and plantation work for 18 days which provided 954
man-days of employment. In other remaining activities, 44(31.2 per cent) are employed in
gap filling and weeding and 33(23.7 per cent) members are employed for gully plugging and
ring mark(Table 5.11). Among participated VSS members in the activities, female labourers
accounts for 25(45.5 per cent), 26(59.1 per cent) and 8(24.2 per cent) employed in the
activities of clearing, pit digging, gap filling and gully plugging respectively. Thus, it shows
those who are in need of employment, are participating in the activities.
Since the members who are in need of employment are participating in the activities,
it was clear that the members who own large holdings of land are not involving in any of the
activities. But in clearing five members, who have more than six acres of land are also
involved, may be because the activity has been carried out during lean season.
Comparatively, members who have less than six acres participated in all activities. Among
these, landless

173
TABLE: 5.11. LABOUR PARTICIPATION IN JFM ACTIVITIES OF 1995-96
Work

Average [Link] people

employed

Average
duration of
employment

Male

Female

Total

Total Man
days of
employment

Average
rate of
wages (in
Rs)

Total
wage
payment
(in Rs)

Clearing

25

30
(42.3)

25
(36.8)

55
(39.6)

1375

625

34,375

Pit digging, staking and

plantation

18

28
(39.4)

25
(36.8)

53
(38.1)

954

450

23,850

18
(25.3)

26
(37.7)

44
(31.2)

220

125

5,500

25
(35.2)

8
(11.6)

33
(23.7)

165

Gap filling and weeding

Gully plugging and ring
mark

125

4,125

Figures in parenthesis are percentages to total members of VSS

Source: Muster rolls of JFM.

TABLE: 5.12. LANDHOLDING ACTIVITY AND SEX-WISE PARTICIPATION OF VSS

MEMBERS
Size of
Land
Holdings

Landless
(14)

Pit digging, staking

and plantation

Clearing
Persons
employed

11
(20.0)

78.6

5
(9.1)

45,5

18
(32.7)

52.9

16
(29.1)

38.1

3
(5.5)

21.4

8-10(4)

1
(1.8)

25.0

10 and
above(20)

1
(1.8)

5.0

Total (139)

55
(100)

39.6

1-2(11)

2-4 (34)

4-6 (42)

6-8(14)

Persons
employed
10
(18.9)

%*
71.4

Gap filling and

weeding
Persons
employed

Gully plugging and ring

mark
0/

Persons
employed

%*

8
(18.6)

57.1

3
(7.0)

27.3

54.5

58.8

15
(34.9)

44.1

(37 7)
15
(28.3)

16
(37.2)

38.1

7
(212)

lb.7

35.7

1
(2.3)

7.1

2
(6.1)

14.3

14.3

33
(100)

23.7

6
(113)
20

2
(38)

50.0

(9.1)
5

45.5

(15.2)
12

35.3

<.4>

53
(100)

38.1

Percentages to total members of respective class.

Source: Field Study.

43
(100)

31.0

174
members have reported higher rate of participation(Table 5.12). This clearly indicates that
those persons who depended on forest resources and who need employment are coming
forward for the works of VSS. As Chatrapati Singh(1991) raised a question while studying
the forest notifications of JFM that this movement may remain a mere employment scheme,
as it mostly happened in the Social Forestry Programme. Further he noted that it seems the
objective of National Forest Policy is more of a confession of need that India's wasted or
denuded forests are to be afforested again. But it needs to be employ about the same size of
labour as that engage in agriculture which can be met by the VSS. And also JFM has not
adopted the collective responsibility in preservation and regeneration of forests as tribals
experienced in traditional institutions.

As per the G.0.1993 VSS got 50 per cent (now it is 100 percent) of share from the
income of wood collected in clearing activity. This amount was deposited in the joint
account of VSS. The Gandhinagaram VSS Committee was giving loans to the members
from that fund at 12 per cent interest rate. As a whole 52 members were given loans during
1996 and 1997. Table 5.13 indicates that the members who have got the loans owned 6-10
acres of land and mostly it is for agricultural purposes. Till now no one had repaid the loans.
One can observe that, in the general body where decisions are supposed to be taken
households who own large holding are participating while the members who have less
holdings are participating in labour activities. Even in distribution of loans those who have
large holdings are benefited than the landless and the members with smallholdings.
Preservation and regeneration on which JFM is concentrated are not new to the tribals but
they need rights over forest resources on which they depended for survival. If the rights are
assured the VSS may remain as an employment scheme with less participation of forest
dependent people in the decision making level and ultimately VSS becomes an institution
controlled by Forest Department and Committee but not the people.

5.4. CONCLUSION
Even though it is too early to draw a conclusion on the success of JFM but one can

175

TABLE: 5.13. LAND HOLDINGS WISE NUMBER OF PERSONS OBTAINED

LOANS THROUGH VSS DURING 1996 AND 1997
Size of
land
holding

1997

1996
A
B

Landless
(14)

1-2 (11)

1
(4.5)

7.1

91

4-6 (42)

6-8 (14)

TOTAL
(139)

18.2

9
(30.0)

21.4

50.0

8
(26.7)

57.1

2
(9 1)

50.0

3
(10.0)

75.0

2
(9 1)

10.0

1
(3.3)

5.0

22
(100)

15.8

30
(100)

21.6

8
(36.5)

19.0

7
(31.8)
1

2
(6.7)

14.7

14.3

5
(16.6)

3.1

10 and
above(20)

1
(4.5)

8-10 (4)

(67)

(4.5)
2-4 (34)

19

A: Below Rs.500; B: Rs.5OO-8OO; C: Rs.800-1000 D: Rs.1000-2000; E: Rs.2000 and above;

F: Total; G: Percentage to total member of respective class.
Source: Field Study

176
assess on the basis of the participation of the people in decision making as well as
implementation. The study shows that participation of the members is not only in decision
making but also participation as labourers is less. Starting from the preparation of micro plan
to implementation of different activities along with maintenance of the records, the Forest
Department has a dominant role under broad coverage of partnership in joint management
responsibility. In the village, financial transactions and cash records have been maintained
by the forest officials with or without the knowledge of VSS president. One can observe that
there is little flow of information below the VSS President. Most of the members of VSS do
not know what has been planned under the programme. This shows, instead of motivating
and making them to represent their problems and to participate in VSS activities, the Forest
Department merely employing the members as labourers in the name of people's
participation. Since the people's participating is very less in number, the management of
VSS can be in the hands of few and the possibility of generating vested interests among the
tribals, which may spoil the collective nature of their traditional institutions further.