FRA implementation moving at a sluggish pace in Himachal Pradesh
The Hindu
Some activists believe that the key reason is the non-committal attitude of State agencies and lack of coordination among the Tribal, Panchayati Raj, Forest and Revenue Departments.
Even as close to two-thirds of Himachal Pradesh’s geographical area is under forest land cover, the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 in the State has been moving at a sluggish pace and the process of recognizing of the rights of forest dwellers is far from complete.
Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ data on the status of implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, which is commonly known as Forest Rights Act (FRA) for the period ending February 2021, shows that in Himachal Pradesh 2,903 claims, which include 2,642 individual ones and 261 community claims, were received. Of the total received claims only 164 have been distributed titles. The claims that have been distributed include 129 individual and 35 under the community category.
Some activists working on forest rights believe that the key reason behind the sluggishness in recognition and vesting of Community Forest Rights (CFR) and Community Forest Resource rights (CFRR) Rights under Section 3(1) of the Act is the non-committal attitude of State agencies and lack of coordination among the Tribal, Panchayati Raj, Forest and Revenue Departments.