Forest Right Act, 2006

Forest Right Act, 2006

The Schedule Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, or FRA 2006 is a landmark legislation which seeks to restore the rights of forest dwellers over land community forest resources and habitats.

The FRA 2006 also aims for sustainable governance and management of forests. The law aims to rectify the historical injustices where forest-dwelling communities were denied rights for decades as a result of the continuance of colonial forest laws in India.

2 types of Rights

I. Individual Rights

II. Community Rights

1.Ownership Rights

FRA 2006 gives forest dwelling tribes right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to maximum of 4 hectares.

2.User Rights

FRA 2006 gives rights to the dwellers to extract Minor Forest Produce, grazing etc.

3.Development Rights

FRA 2006 gives rights to rehabilitation of Forest Dwellers.

4.Forest Management Rights

FRA 2006 also provides the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage community forest and resources.

The Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of IFR or CFR or both that may be given to FDST (Forest dwelling Schedule Tribes) and OTFD (Other Traditional Forest Dwellers).

The Core Issues

? Non-compliance of the procedure

? Lack of transparency

? Documentation hassle proof of evidence

? Poor record keeping

? Lack of awareness- Right to appeal

? Rights to women

? High rejections among Other Tribal Forest Dwellers

? Lack of coordination

? Non expansion of other schemes

? Multiplicity of legal provisions

1. During the colonial time the focus shifted from the forests being used as a resource base for sustenance of local communities to a state resource for commercial interests and development of land for agriculture.
2. Several Acts and policies such as 3 Indian Forest Acts of 1865, 1894 and 1972 of Central Govt. and some state forest Acts curtailed centuries-old, customary use rights of local communities.

Note: Minor Forest Produce (Vegetation, Food)

Major Forest Produce (Minerals ex- Coal, Aluminum)

Significance of FRA

Constitution Provision Expansion-

It expands the mandate of 5th and 6th Schedules of the Constitution that protect the claims of indigenous communities over tracts of land or forests they inhabit.

Security Concern-

The alienation of tribes was one of the factors behind the Naxal Movement, which affected states like Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.

Forest Governance-

Potential to democratize forest governance by recognizing community forest resource rights.

Challenges

? Administrative Apathy

? Dilution of Act

? Institutional Roadblocks

? Misuse of FRA