India News | NCST Chief Urges Goa Government to Grant Land Ownership Rights to Tribals

Panaji, May 21 (PTI) National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) chairperson Antar Singh Arya on Wednesday asked the Goa government to grant land ownership rights to tribal people who have been cultivating land for decades, but are still dependent on landlords.

Arya called on Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. He also interacted with various stakeholders of tribal rights, including government bodies and NGOs.

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"Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule in 1961, but tribal people are still dependent on landlords as far as land ownership is concerned. Even if they want to construct a house on the land they have been cultivating for years, they have to get a No Objection Certificate from landlords," he told reporters.

The chairperson pointed out that some tribals have been cultivating lands for more than a hundred years, but still don't have ownership rights.

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"In the absence of ownership rights, they cannot avail of the benefits of various welfare schemes of the Central and state governments," he said.

Arya said he discussed the issue with the Goa Chief Secretary, Dr. V. Candavelou.

He said details of Goa would be mentioned when the annual Action Taken Report (ATR) will be submitted to President Droupadi Murmu.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)