Latest news with #CommunityForestResource
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Gram Sabhas hold authority to prepare CFR management plans, says Centre
The power to prepare Community Forest Resource (CFR) management plans rests with villages through their Gram Sabhas and not with any department of either the Union or State governments, officials of the Tribal Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said on Friday (July 4, 2025). The role of governments is limited to assisting Gram Sabhas in this process, they added. This clarification follows the withdrawal of an order by the Chhattisgarh Forest Department that had prohibited CFR management work across the State in areas where rights had been granted under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. The order, issued by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in May, had sparked State-wide protests from forest-dwelling communities and civil society groups. The Forest Department had cited a 2024 joint communication from the Union Ministries of Tribal Affairs and Environment, under which the Tribal Affairs Ministry was to prepare 'model' CFR management plans for circulation to States. Based on this, the Department claimed that no CFR management activity could proceed until these model plans were delivered. However, Union government officials told The Hindu that 'the joint communication was not supposed to halt CFR management work till the model plans are prepared'. State officials further explained that community-led forest resource management and conservation cannot have 'one plan that fits all', adding that each village will have to tailor their plans according to the nature, amount and geography of the forests in their respective areas. In their protest letters to the Chief Minister, Gram Sabhas alleged that the Forest Department was attempting to wrest control of CFR management from them - an authority they hold under the FRA and the CFR guidelines issued by the Tribal Affairs Ministry. The earlier Forest Department order had also interrupted plans by the Tribal Development Department to empanel NGOs to support villages in drafting their CFR management plans. With Thursday's withdrawal of the order, officials in Chhattisgarh confirmed that the process can now resume. 'We had asked for guidance from the Tribal Affairs Ministry on this and a formal response is expected any day now. It has also been learnt that the Union Ministry will soon be sharing its model plans, which will just be a broad framework,' a State official said. Though the FRA was enacted in 2006 with the intent of involving forest-dependent communities in conservation and management, it was only in 2023 that the Tribal Affairs Ministry issued detailed guidelines that gave exclusive authority to Gram Sabhas for preparing and approving CFR plans. The Ministry clarified that any synchronisation required with forest department codes should occur after Gram Sabhas have finalised their plans. To facilitate this process, the Union government in 2023 launched the Dharti Aba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan, a separate programme that enabled State governments to empanel NGOs to assist Gram Sabhas in preparing CFR management plans.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Amid pushback, Chhattisgarh withdraws community forest rights
Amid protests from forest dwellers and activists, the Chhattisgarh forest department Thursday has withdrawn its directive barring all other departments, NGOs and private organisations from carrying out any work concerning Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR) until the Centre passes a plan. The advisory was withdrawn on the directions of state Forest Minister Kedar Kashyap, the forest department said in a press statement. The department has written to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India (MoEF&CC), to issue model CFR management plans, detailed guidelines and a training module for the master trainers and all stakeholders. The press statement said: 'The forest department had only issued an advisory to its field officers in light of the absence of model Community Forest Resource (CFR) management plans and corresponding guidelines.' It was necessary because of inconsistency in field-level implementation of CFRR due to the lack of clarity on how to integrate CFR management plans with the National Working Plan Code, 2023, the statement said. There was also confusion regarding coordination between Gram Sabhas, NGOs, and forest officials. The statement said the absence of this advisory would have resulted in ad hoc management plans being implemented without the working plan prescriptions. 'This would have jeopardized the ecological integrity of forests… and created inter-departmental and community-level disputes.' IFS officer V Sreenivasa Rao, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Head of Forest Force (PCCF & HoFF), Chhattisgarh, said, 'The department has played a commendable role in the distribution Individual and CFR rights. Till now a total of 4,78,641 of Individual Rights and 4,349 of CFRR (20,06,224 hectares) have been given under the Forest Rights Act (FRA). As a result… Chhattisgarh has emerged as one of the leading states in the country in terms of CFRR recognition.'
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Chhattisgarh forest department withdraws circular on CFR rights after massive tribal protests
RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh forest department on Thursday withdrew its advisory circular issued to its field officers for implementation of Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights following the massive protest in several districts by people, mostly tribals, who alleged the move as state's attempt to weaken the Forest Rights Act and undermine the constitutional power of Gram Sabhas. Activists working on forest and tribal rights highlighted that a letter issued by the Chhattisgarh Forest Department on May 15 seeking to designate the department as the nodal agency for implementing the FRA—an act that is not only legally untenable but also a direct encroachment on the jurisdiction of the Tribal Development Department. 'The forest department has invoked the National Working Plan Code 2023 under the guise of 'scientific forest management' to threaten the implementation of Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights, supported by Gram Sabhas and other state institutions. This move jeopardises community control and management over nearly 20,000 sq km of forests in the state', they claimed. The forest department affirmed that its directive was advisory in nature as the field implementation of CFR rights was becoming inconsistent due to the lack of clarity on how to develop and integrate CFR management plans with the National Working Plan Code 2023. Spontaneous and big rallies were taken place as the collective voice across tribal regions during the last couple of days, with memorandums addressed to chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai were submitted, seeking his intervention to refrain the forest department from obstructing the rights of forest-dependent communities and instead support the remaining 8,000 forest-reliant villages in securing their rightful CFR claims.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Over 20,000 villages in MP to get Community Forest Resource Rights
Indore: The Madhya Pradesh govt has decided to speed up the process of granting Community Forest Resource (CFR) Rights to around 20,000 villages in the state. Madhya Pradesh is among the states with the fewest villages so far receiving CFR Rights, a special category under section 3(1)(i) of the FRA, 2006, which empowers gram sabhas (village councils) to legally manage their traditional forests. These rights ensure community-led conservation and sustainable use of forest resources, said official sources. So far, four villages in the state have been provided these rights, while there is a target to extend the same to around 20,000 villages in Madhya Pradesh. This information was shared by experts to collectors, DFOs, zila panchayat CEOs, and other senior officials of the Indore-Ujjain division during a two-day divisional-level workshop focusing on community forest rights and the conservation and management of forest resources. The workshop, organised in line with the state govt's directives for the effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006 , concluded in Indore on Friday. Resource persons Sharadchandra Lele from the ATREE Institute, Bangalore, and Ashwini Kange, working in Chhattisgarh, provided detailed information on the process of conservation and management of community forests as per the provisions of the Forest Rights Act and the procedures for their recognition, through presentations and short films. They explained how to maintain and manage forests effectively. The state govt has sped up the conversion of a total of 925 'Van Gram' (forest villages) into 'Rajasva Gram' (revenue villages). "We have urged the state govt to carry out a proper survey and settlement of agricultural fields in 925 Van Gram before converting them into Rajasva Gram, else the farmlands of people would be considered as encroachment," Lele said. In the workshop, Indore divisional commissioner Deepak Singh urged officials to actively participate in recognising maximum number of community forest rights in their respective areas, in accordance with the govt's vision, and to play a proactive role in forest conservation and management.
