Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

Government initiated an eviction of illegal encroachers in 2005, which was highly resisted. To pacify the protest, government came up with “The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006”.

  • FRA, 2006 acceded rights of the forest dwellers.

Some Important Features of the Act

  • The Act recognized rights of the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in forests for generations. It also accepted their method of sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance.
  • It recognizes four kinds of rights –
  1. Title Rights: Ownership upto 4 hectare cultivable land. No new lands will be provided.
  2. Use Rights: They can extract minor forest produce, access grazing areas, etc.
  3. Relief and Development Rights: In case of illegal eviction, rehabilitation services will be provided.
  4. Forest Management Rights: Accepting their traditional means of conserving and managing forests.

Controversy

  • Supreme Court in February 2019, asked the state governments to evict illegal encroachers based on a report which stated - Since enactment of the law, 4.22 million applications have been filed for the settlement of rights. Of this, 1.94 million have been rejected.
  • There was huge protest to overturn the verdict but the states and nodal ministry are in a state of inaction.

Problems with the Act

  • No adequate budget allocation for implementation of the Act. There was no effective defence of the law in the ongoing SC case for the last four years by the Centre or state governments.
  • The central and state governments must overcome the above follies via ensuring proper implementation of the act thereby accrediting forest rights on tribals and evicting the encroachers.

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