Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state government set up a task force on Wednesday to carry out the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav will be the chairman of the task force’s top committee, and Chief Secretary (CS) Anurag Jain will be its ex officio member secretary.
Among the ministers Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Prahlat Patel, Tribal Welfare Minister Vijay Shah and forest Minister Ramniwas Rawat have been made vice presidents of the task force. Principal Secretary (PS) of the Tribal Welfare Department will be the ex officio member assistant secretary of the committee.
Chief Minister will be the chairman of the executive committee. Besides CS, the principal secretary of the forest department and that of the Panchayat and Rural Development, and the commissioner of SC/ST Welfare Department will be its ex officio member secretaries.
Milind Dandekar, Sharad Lele, Milind Thatte, former legislator Bhagat Singh Netam, Ram Dangore, Rupnarayan Mandve and Kalu Singh Gulanda have been made its members. PS of the Tribal Welfare Department of the Forest Department has been made the ex officio secretary of the task force.
The task force will estimate district-wise probable cases under the Forest Rights Act and the Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR) and take decisions on mapping. The task force will also prepare plans for various programmes according to the PESA Act and find other ways to implement it.
