E-Paper
Nearly 2.5mn claims granted under Forest Act
As of May 31, 2025, 2.38 million forest rights claims and 121,705 community titles were granted under the Forest Rights Act, with over 1.86 million claims pending.
Around 2.38 million individual forest rights claims and 121,705 community titles have been distributed under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, the Union environment ministry informed Lok Sabha on Monday.
The ministry also said that over 1.86 million and 749,673 claims are pending as on May 31 (since the Act came into force). In total, around 5.123 million claims have been filed as of May 31, 2025, the ministry said in a written response
“As per the provisions of ‘The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006’ and Rules there under, the state governments are responsible for implementation of various provisions of the Act. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal Ministry for monitoring the implementation of the Act,” Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State (MoS) for environment said in the response.
Singh was replying to questions raised by Congress MP Gowaal Kagada Padavi on whether the government maintains updated records of individual and community forest rights claims under Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006; and the number of pending claims along with the reasons for delay in approval, state-wise.
“As stipulated in Section 6(6) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, the final decision on claims lies with the District Level Committee,” the ministry said with regards to a question on whether tribal Gram Sabhas are empowered to make final decisions on claims.
The MoEFCC also informed the Lower House that no forest dweller can be evicted before recognition of forest rights.
“As per provisions of Section 4(5) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dwellers shall be evicted or removed from the forest land under occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete,” the MoS said.
In response to a query on whether any states have been found violating FRA provisions among others, Singh said, since the state/ UTs are responsible for implementation of the Act, the grievances and representations received in the ministry of tribal affairs are forwarded to the concerned state / UTs. Further, the ministry of tribal affairs has been urging all state governments to abide by the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, and ensure timely disposal of the claims, he added.
A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, titled “Securing Rights, Enabling Futures: Policy Lessons & Pathways from FRA for Accelerating Tribal Development”, released earlier this month recommended a National Tribal Policy/ National Acceleration Plan for tribal development for next five years may be framed, integrating tribal governance and sustainable development as interconnected outcomes.
Forest rights holders may be recognised as a category across all social protection and livelihood programmes. Policies and schemes related to forests, land, and natural resource governance must be designed to facilitate the actualisation of these rights, the UNDP report said.
HT reported on July 6 that the ministry of tribal affairs has asked for scientific evidence from the environment ministry to substantiate claims that granting forest rights to tribal communities causes forest degradation, escalating a tussle over the landmark 2006 legislation that recognises traditional forest rights of tribal communities in protected areas.
