Tribal Affairs Ministry set to revamp forest rights cells, form ‘one-stop’ project monitoring units

The Tribal Affairs Ministry plans to revamp forest rights cells into unified project monitoring units for improved policy coordination.

A year after the Tribal Affairs Ministry started a programme to fund Forest Rights Act Cells (FRA cells) to aid the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the government has decided to expand the mandate of such cells at the State- and Union Territory-level, The Hindu has learnt.

Funding of FRA cells was introduced as part of the Ministry’s DAJGUA programme to help States with additional human resources and expedite the processing of forest rights claims, besides helping in record-keeping and digitising existing records of forest rights titles. Till last June, the Ministry had sanctioned 324 district-level cells in 18 States and UTs, and 17 cells at the State level.

In a review meeting with States on February 4, the Ministry moved to create ‘one-stop’ Project Monitoring Units (PMUs) that would coordinate on all policy matters, officials said.

The move has created confusion among several States implementing the FRA, which have already formed FRA cells. Last week, the Odisha government ordered closure of existing FRA cells in 50 sub-divisions, a move an official confirmed as being part of the Ministry’s revamp plans.

Officials in Chhattisgarh said the State is figuring out how to form PMUs and exploring if existing FRA cells can expand functions beyond the FRA’s ambit. However, the officials have not received any written instructions from the Ministry.

A Ministry official said provisions to fund cells exclusively for FRA implementation were “increasing costs” and made challenging communication with the States on implementing policies.