“My land is getting recognised, I feel Assured”
Panchami Jani 50, wife of late Sapteswar Jani and mother of two children is living in the village Baramunda in Boudh district of Odisha. Her husband was cultivating few land parcels in the forest land belonging to Sitkabari (Unsurveyed) forest village for 30 years. Sapteswar died 10 years ago leaving behind the family. Children were small and unknown about the land parcel. Panchami was worried about losing the parcels due to the absence of his husband. Also, the parcel was located in another forest village.
With the help of FES (Foundation for Ecological Security) and Center for Land Governance, NRMC under Individual Forest Rights (IFR), Forest Rights Act 2005, Panchami herself mapped the parcel with Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) linked mobile app. NRMC and FES are helping Panchami in filling the claim form along with geo-referenced parcel information.
Panchami is happy to participate in the mapping process and says I have walked around my own parcel in front of the Forest Right Committee. I feel assured that my parcel is recognized before the community.