India’s landmark law to empower Indigenous forest-dwellers to sustainably access and use forest resources

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition Of Forest Rights) Act in 2006,¹ commonly known as FRA, was enacted to recognize and secure the rights to forest land and resources of the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes (ST)²/ Indigenous People / Adivasis³ and other traditional forest dwellers in India.⁴ FRA aims to recognise historical injustice and undo the damage and inequality caused by colonial-era forest policies and subsequent forest action by empowering communities to access and use forest resources sustainably. The Act also recognizes the stewardship of forest dwelling communities in the survival and sustainability of the forest ecosystem.

While in the post-independence period multiple acts have been passed for forest, biodiversity, and wildlife conservation⁵ in India, none addressed the rights of people from the scheduled tribes (STs)⁶ who have been protecting, conserving, and living in the forest for generations. Then, in 2001, the Forest Ministry misinterpreted a Supreme Court ruling⁷ and used it to evict 300,000 people from their land over a six month period. This led to peaceful mass movement by tribal activists, with millions of people marching from the hinterlands to the capital.⁸ A Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD)⁹ brought multiple groups together to demand for a policy to ensure the rights of forest dwellers on forest lands as this eviction threatened about three million tribal families.¹⁰ This collective action led to the passing of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in 2006.¹¹

Today, forests provides livelihood and life sustaining resources to approximately 275 million¹² forest dwelling people in around 173,000 villages¹³ in India. FRA recognizes a range of rights including:

• Community Forest Rights (CFR): gives access to collect, use, and dispose of forest resources in a sustainable way. This confers to Adivasis, the rights of managing and governing the forest and its resources, securing their right to land, right to use their Indigenous knowledge for sustainable use of forests, right to dignified livelihoods, and also gives them a political voice in matters of how the forest can be used for development purposes by the State. The nature of the relationship between the State and the community changes as communities now manage and govern the land as opposed to being considered “encroachers.”
• Individual Forest Rights (IFR): gives access to land for farming up to four hectares. The individual has the right to use the land for agriculture and other livelihood purposes, securing their food and livelihood.
• In-situ rehabilitation and protection from arbitrary displacement: this has been one of the key grievances of forest-dwelling communities.

Implementation

The implementation structure is institutionalized within the existing bureaucracy where district administration is involved in conferment of the titles, which are scrutinised at the Gram Sabha ¹⁴ and sub-divisional level of governance. The process involves officials from relevant state level departments (i.e., the Forest, Revenue, and Tribal Department), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and experts working on the subject, along with representation from forest dwelling scheduled tribes. ¹⁵

The FRA has a three-tier quasi-judicial system of authority for verifying and adjudicating claims. While the Gram Sabha remains the primary authority for initiating the claims process by receiving and verifying the claims and once verified, it sends its recommendation to the sub-divisional level committees (SDLCs) set up at the sub-divisional level. The SDLCs then examine the resolution passed by the gram sabha and prepare the record of forest rights, forwarding it to the district level committee (DLC) for a final decision.

Cost

The implementation of FRA involves various costs, including administrative, financial, and social costs, however, there is no specific budgetary allocation at the central level. State government bodies can apply to grants for implementation of FRA through Article 275(1) of Constitution. The cost varies from state to state as it depends on forest area and the population of forest-dwelling communities. The state of Odisha became the first state to allocate separate funds to the tune of 2,600 lakh INR (approximately USD 3.2 million) in its budget in 2023¹⁶ to expedite the settlement of rights by 2024.¹⁷

Assessment

RA is considered a landmark law in India. In 15 years of its implementation, FRA has recognized approximately 2.2 million Individual Forest Rights and 102,889 Community Forest Rights¹⁸ equivalent to 6.8 million hectares (MHa) of forest land across 20 states with an average of 50.37 percent of titles distributed over the number of claims received. There is potential to restore rights over approximately 40 MHa of land.¹⁹

The impact of the policy goes beyond the numbers of titles: it has given voice to the community by dismantling colonial forest bureaucracy, conferring democratic rights and empowering tribal women, who largely depend on forest resources and share a bond with the forest ecosystem. Decentralized governance of forest land and resources by the community has given the legal framework to the community to contest any land grab by the state or corporate entities.

The landmark judgement in the case of Vedanta—Niyamgiri²⁰ is one such example that upholds the spirit of the Act. In 2013, in the case of Orissa Mining Corporation vs. Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and Others (Vedanta Mining), the Supreme Court of India decreed that the “Gram Sabha: (Village Assembly) has the authority to determine whether the proposed project would affect individual or community rights including cultural and religious rights under FRA and that this is a precondition before the mining process in “Niyamgiri” hills can proceed.²¹ Unanimous rejection by the communities led to the final verdict that upheld the democratic rights of the community and demonstrated the power of the underprivileged, by putting a halt on Vedanta’s operations in Niyamgiri. In January 2014, MoEF that aided Vedanta’s incursion of Niyamgiri, withdrew approved projects and expansion plans.²² This decision gained coverage in the international media and also attracted international support.

The Act has also dismantled decolonizing conservation practices while acknowledging stewardship of communities. FRA ensures that individual land titles are given in the name of the husband and wife, giving equal rights to both partners. Also, the provisions of having women members (1/3rd) in the Forest Rights Committee (elected for verification process) as well as in the Community Forest Resource Management Committee (CFRMC, elected for governance and management of resources after confinement of rights) has also strengthened their participation in the decision-making process and conservation practices.

Theoretically, the Forest Rights Act, 2006 presents a solution to the issues of land dispossession. Redistributive land reform not only enhances production and reduces poverty but is also a part of a democratic revolution.²³ However, in practice, there have been some issues with implementation due to the bureaucracy involved, requirements of the Act and in some instances, lack of awareness about the provisions of the Act by tribal communities. In terms of requirements, OTFD (Other Traditional Forest Dwellers) claimants are required to produce documentary evidence proving 75 years of residence.²⁴ This is a challenge for most marginalized communities, particularly as many have been displaced multiple times over generations, besides the difficulties associated with maintaining 75 year formal records. Elsewhere, lack of awareness and geographical remoteness further impedes tribal communities from claiming their rights. States, such as Maharashtra and Orissa, where tribal activism has been able to create awareness amongst community members, and the language of the Act has been demystified, have performed better.²⁵

Additional Information

India is home to the second largest population of Indigenous people, at almost 104 million people. Adivasis are considered the “original inhabitants” and are traditionally and historically linked to land and forests.²⁶ Adivasis were systematically racialized, oppressed, and dispossessed of their lands since the passing of the first Indian Forest Act in 1865. The Act (IFA, 1865) claimed Indian forests under the British administration. It truncated the traditional use of forest resources by forest-dwelling communities, deprived them of their land and its resources (their only source of livelihood), health and nutrition, way of life and dignity as they were deemed encroachers and thieves. In addition to IFA, the British administration also passed Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 and subsequent acts.

By 1991, STs only comprised 8.1 percent of the total population but they constituted more than 40 percent of the population displaced due to development projects²⁷ leading to a lower human development index (HDI) and human poverty index (HPI) for this community (approximately 30 percent lower than all-India indices).²⁸

Tags

• Asia & Pacific
• India
• Indigenous Peoples
• Justice
• Land
• Middle-Income Country
• Political & Civic Participation
• Redistribution