He told The Indian Express: “Out of the over 1.7 lakh applications filed by the tribals in Gujarat, only 5,500-odd were passed by the Divisional Level Committees (DLC). This is really slow compared to other states, and we have taken a serious note of the matter.”

Chaudhary, who had won the Bardoli Lok Sabha seat this year, said that in the next two days starting Wednesday, all chief ministers, chief secretaries and higher-ups from the forest departments will be representing issues related to forests and tribals in the conference. “We have asked the Government of Gujarat to discuss their issues in the implementation of the Act,” Chaudhary said.

Father Xavier, a tribal activist from Rajpipla in Narmada district, said the state Forest Department does not recognise the autonomy of the Gram Sabhas, Sub Divisional Level Committees (SDLC) and DLCs, which are the deciding authority over allotment of land to the tribals.

“Increasingly, the decision to allot land is based on the Forest Department, which is actually the opposition party in the decisions. If the applicant doesn’t provide any document that carries the Forest Department’s opinion, it is summarily rejected by these committees,” said Fr Xavier.

Bhanu Tadvi, the convenor of the Narmada-based Adivasi Mahasabha of Gujarat said that despite notices by the Gram Sabha or SLDC to the Forest Department to remain present in the field verifications for land allotment, the forest officials remain absent and do not reply to the notices. “The SLDCs are rejecting most of the applications depending on the opinion of the Forest Department, which is slowing down the process,” Fr Xavier added.

Meanwhile, the Mahasabha has decided to hold rallies in Delhi along with other tribal organisations from across India, in view of the ‘unfair’ distribution of land to tribals in 10 districts of the state. Tadvi said the Gujarat government has taken the tribals for granted.