After widespread protests, forest dept blinks, withdraws advisory on CFRR
Chhattisgarh Forest Department on Thursday clarified that the letter was only intended as a temporary procedural advisory due to the absence of a model management plan for Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR) areas.
"Our intention was never to curtail community rights," Principal Chief Conservation of Forest (PCCF) & Head of Forest Force (HoFF) Srinivas Rao told TOI. "The advisory aimed to ensure ecological safeguards and scientific consistency in forest management."
The May 15 letter has now been formally corrected through a corrigendum issued on June 23, and both documents — the original and its clarification — have been withdrawn on the directions of Forest Minister Kedar Kashyap.
HoFF Srinivas Rao in a detailed letter issued on Thursday, cited growing confusion at the field level regarding integration of community-prepared plans with the National Working Plan Code (2023), approved by the Environment Ministry.
The statement adds that the department's letter was misinterpreted as a move to centralize control over CFR lands, and that opposition from NGOs and community groups likely stemmed from this misunderstanding.
The clarification comes a day after TOI reported on massive protests across the state on July 1 and 2 by thousands of people, against forest department's order and Gram Sabhas, tribal organizations, and social activists, took place in multiple places including tribal districts.
HoFF Rao reiterated that the department had formally withdrawn its letter dated May 15, 2025, which had mistakenly referred to the department as the "nodal agency" for implementing CFRR. He clarified that this was a typographical error, and that it serves only as a facilitator, not the decision-maker, in the CFRR process.
The original advisory, now officially withdrawn through office letter no. 536 dated July 3, 2025, had sparked outrage among tribal groups and activists who viewed it as an attempt to undermine the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, and override the authority of Gram Sabhas, the rightful custodians of forest resources under the law.
Corrected Course and Future Steps
The Forest Department has written to the Ministries of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) requesting for a model community forest resource management plan aligned with national forestry codes, then detailed implementation guidelines for tribal welfare and forest officials and a standardized training module for local stakeholders including Gram Sabha representatives.
The state currently leads the country with 4,349 CFRR titles, covering over 20,062 sq km, and over 4.78 lakh individual titles under FRA. These efforts, the department noted, were achieved through a "facilitative and inclusive" approach.
While the department's latest clarification may help ease tensions, activists and community leaders say it's now time for transparent collaboration, not just damage control.
"This retraction is a step in the right direction," said an activist who has been working with CFRR-recognized villages. "But the state must remember: CFR rights are not to be facilitated on paper — they are lived realities in our forests."
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