By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Nearly two decades after the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 came into being, the highly vulnerable Raji community in Uttarakhand is still living in deprivation.
Representatives of the Raji tribe, included in Uttarakhand’s highly vulnerable PVTG (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group) category, arrived in the capital Dehradun for the first time to collectively voice their problems and demands for their basic rights.
The young men and women from Pithoragarh told the media that nearly 20 years have passed since the Forest Rights Act of 2006 was enacted, but they have not yet received the revenue land titles which they are entitled to under the law.
They said that the rights that should have been granted immediately upon the implementation of the law are still entangled in files and bureaucratic processes. The Raji community, living in remote forests and mountains, still depends on forest produce collection and daily wage labour for their livelihood. The lack of basic facilities such as roads, healthcare, education, and stable employment has marginalized the community.
“We don’t just want to put forward our demands, we want solutions for our future”, Kamal Rajwar, a Raji leader, said.
The community representatives, who arrived in Dehradun with the support of the Arpan organization, stated that they have not come merely to submit a memorandum, but to demand concrete solutions for their livelihood, identity, and future.
In this regard, they held meetings with the Forest Rights Institute, the Bamboo Board, the Uttarakhand State Women’s Commission, and the Uttarakhand State Human Rights Commission, and are preparing to present their case before the administration and civil society on December 17.
Renu Thakur, Chief Executive of the Arpan organization which is also fighting for the rights of the Raji community, said that the problems of the Raji community are not limited to a single tribe, but are a collective responsibility of the entire society and the state. She said that this community wants to join the mainstream while preserving its culture and nature-based lifestyle, but the path to development remains blocked for them. It is crucial that their voices are heard seriously for the conservation and upliftment of this community, which is on the verge of extinction.
The Raji community is one of the five PVTG tribes of Uttarakhand and is considered the smallest and most endangered tribe in the state. This community resides in only 11 villages in the state—9 in Pithoragarh, 1 in Champawat, and 1 in Udham Singh Nagar (Chakarpur). Until a few decades ago, this community lived in caves and was almost completely isolated from the outside world.