India has received more than 51 lakh claims under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) till January 31 this year, with more than one-third of those rejected, official data show. The highest number of claims were received in Chhattisgarh (9.41 lakh), followed by Odisha (7.2 lakh), Telangana (6.55 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (6.27 lakh) and Maharashtra (4.09 lakh).
Together, these five states account for more than 66 per cent of all the claims received across the country, according to the Union tribal affairs ministry's data.
Chhattisgarh also tops the list in terms of rejections, with more than four lakh claims turned down. Madhya Pradesh has rejected over 3.22 lakh claims, followed by Maharashtra (1.72 lakh), Odisha (1.44 lakh) and Jharkhand (28,107).
The Forest Rights Act, 2006 recognises the rights of tribals and forest-dependent communities over the land they have lived on and protected for generations. Claims can be made for individual or community rights under the law. Policy experts and activists say, FRA implementation has been marked by violations, with a large number of claims wrongly rejected. In 2019, while hearing a plea filed by a wildlife NGO, the Supreme Court ordered the eviction of more than 17 lakh families whose FRA claims were rejected. Following nationwide protests, the court put the order on hold in February 2019 and directed a review of the rejected claims. However, many tribal and forest-dependent communities allege that the review process remains flawed, with both the central and state governments failing to sincerely implement the law.
According to the data, more than half of the claims filed were rejected in Madhya Pradesh. The state disposed of 6.17 lakh of the 6.27 lakh claims it received, with a disposal rate of 98.37 per cent. However, it has distributed only 2.94 lakh titles so far, just under 47 per cent of the total claims. At the national level, more than 43.57 lakh claims have been disposed of out of the 51.03 lakh received, a disposal rate of 85.38 per cent. However, only 24.98 lakh titles have been distributed, less than half of the total number of claims. Odisha, Kerala, Tripura, Jharkhand and Gujarat are among the states with the highest proportion of titles distributed compared to the number of claims received. Odisha has given out titles in more than 65 per cent of the cases, Kerala in 64.69 per cent, Tripura in 63.79 per cent, Jharkhand in 55.95 per cent and Gujarat in 54.24 per cent cases.
On the other hand, Karnataka, Bihar and Uttarakhand have reported very low distribution of titles. In Karnataka, only 5.54 per cent of the claims led to titles, while Bihar and Uttarakhand have distributed titles in just 1.51 per cent and 2.77 per cent of the cases, respectively.
Some states, including Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have reported disposing of almost all the claims they received but the number of titles distributed remains low. Uttar Pradesh has disposed of 99.93 per cent of its claims but issued titles in just 20.17 per cent cases. Jammu and Kashmir shows a similar trend, with a disposal rate of 99.68 per cent and a title-distribution rate of 13.06 per cent.
Media last week reported that the Union Environment Ministry has submitted a report to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), stating that as of March 2024, a total of 13,05,668.1 hectares (or 13,056 sq km) of forest land was under encroachment in 25 states and Union territories that have provided data so far.
Ten states are yet to submit data on "forest encroachments". The report was submitted to the NGT on March 28, just ahead of a scheduled Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday in a case challenging the constitutionality of the FRA. While the hearing in the apex court could not take place as a three-judge Constitution bench is yet to be formed, tribal and forest dwellers' organisations have alleged that the report submitted to the NGT shows that the central government continues to "doublespeak" on the issue of protecting tribal and forest-dependent communities' rights under the Forest Rights Act.
