Forest Rights Act (FRA)

Forest Rights Act (FRA): Recently, under the Dharti Aba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan (DAJGUA), the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has taken key steps to strengthen the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. It has:

o Sanctioned 324 district-level FRA cells across 18 States and Union Territories, and

o Approved 17 State-level cells to enhance coordination and support.

• About Forest Rights Act (FRA: It recognizes the rights of the forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers, who have been residing in such forests for generations, but whose rights could not be recorded. It grants several rights to ensure their control over forest resources which are: 

o The rights to hold and live in the forest land under the individual or common occupation for habitation or for self-cultivation for livelihood,

- Right of ownership: Access to collect, use and dispose of minor forest produce, 

- Community rights: such as nistar; 

- Habitat rights: For primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities; 

- Right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage: Any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.

o Criteria to claim of these rights: Any member or community who has for at least three generations (75 years) had occupied forest land before the 13th day of December, 2005.

o Nature of the rights: Such rights shall be heritable but not alienable or transferable and shall be registered jointly in the name of both the spouses

• About DAJGUA: A centrally sponsored initiative aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of tribal communities through 25 coordinated schemes across 68,000 villages.

o Objective: Targets long-term sustainability through access to essential services and infrastructure.