There was need to boost gram sabhas across Maharashtra as tribals are the ones who are preserving water and forests, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said in Sewagram here on Sunday.

He was speaking at the state-level Conference of Collective Forest Rights attended by gram sabhas and NGOs working in the field of river and forest conservation.

Pawar also said a 'tribal development centre' will begin at Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan in Mumbai soon.

" Tribals are the ones who are preserving water and forests. We need to boost gram sabhas across Maharashtra. Steps must be taken to ensure the upliftment of tribals," Pawar said.

He praised groups like Vidarbha Nisarg Sanrakshan Sanstha, Vidarbha Va Khandesh Upajivika Manch and others and said they have been able to instil confidence in the gram sabhas, which was bearing fruit at the ground level.

More than 700 persons from districts like Gadchiroli, Gondia, Chandrapur, Nagpur, Yavatmal, Amravati, Nandurbar and Dhule districts took part in discussions on water conservation, government schemes, collective forest rights, among others.

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