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The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Contesting the future of forest governance
Recently, the Chhattisgarh forest department issued a letter designating itself as the nodal agency for implementing community forest resource rights (CFRR) under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. CFRR, a transformative provision of the FRA, recognises the right of gram sabhas to manage their customary forests. It seeks to rectify the injustices of colonial forest consolidation which dispossessed local communities and supplanted their traditional management institutions with centralised state control. Not only was this usurpation of the nodal role contrary to the FRA, but the letter violated gram sabhas' statutory authority to implement locally developed management plans in their community forest resource (CFR) areas by insisting on a model plan from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA). This is not required by law. It also prohibited other departments or NGOs from supporting gram sabhas in CFRR management planning. The letter was withdrawn after a spirited grassroots mobilisation by gram sabhas, local elected representatives, and Adivasi rights groups. Still, the persistent attack on gram sabhas' autonomy in managing their forests demands a closer look at how forests should be managed under the FRA. Forest management Historically, forests under government control (excluding wildlife sanctuaries or national parks) have been managed through forest departments' working plans. These plans are rooted in the colonial misnomer of 'scientific forestry', i.e., planning and harvesting to maximise timber production. Ecologists, starting with Madhav Gadgil, questioned this approach, especially since early working plans even included clearfelling natural forests and replacing them with single-species plantations. The decline in India's forests, evidenced by the spread of invasive species and the increase in degraded forest areas, has fuelled doubts about the appropriateness of working plans. But for forest departments, they remain an article of faith to structure their operations and mobilise financial resources. In forest-rich central India, the continuing emphasis of working plans on timber extraction, which restricts communities' access and alters the composition of forests, was met with resistance even before Independence. While working plans have begun to consider restoration and wildlife conservation objectives, they remain products of bureaucratic writ, largely detached from local livelihoods and closed to independent scientific scrutiny. The FRA's radically different vision recognises the integral role of local communities in the 'very survival and sustainability' of forests. CFR management plans are to be developed by gram sabhas to prioritise local needs and address current problems. These plans shall be 'integrated' with working plans by the gram sabha. In other words, working plans will no longer apply in CFR areas, because communities will manage forests with a different objective and at much finer scales. Over 10,000 gram sabhas have received CFRR titles in India, but perhaps less than 1,000 have prepared their CFR management plans. Even their implementation is constrained by the refusal of forest departments to recognise their legitimacy and support gram sabhas. Instead, they have pursued a strategy of attrition, delaying or rejecting CFRR claims, attempting to revoke CFRR titles, and denying funds to CFRR-holding gram sabhas. Their aim to retain colonial power is concealed under arguments that communities lack the ability to manage forests scientifically. MoTA's vacillating responses have not helped. In 2015, it issued guidelines that gram sabhas can use simple formats for their plans, but later came under pressure to alter its stand. A 2024 joint letter with the Environment Ministry required CFR management plans to conform to the National Working Plan Code (NWPC) and even suggested the involvement of foresters in their preparation. This violates the FRA's letter and spirit. Addressing the bogeyman Even according to the NWPC, a working plan should outline 'the purpose with which a forest should be managed so as to best meet the interests and wishes of the owner, and indicate the means by which the purpose may be accomplished.' Yet, the lengthy processes and data-intensive formats that the NWPC prescribes carry the hangover of maximising timber yield. In contrast, forest management by gram sabhas will likely pursue multiple livelihood needs, for which the NWPC provides little guidance. Significant portions of working plans are devoted to cataloguing local conditions, but they abstract their complexities to focus on the forest crop (not ecosystem). A gram sabha's plan need not do the same because these insights are part of their lived experience. The variable impacts of climate change also challenge the linear trajectories of working plans, which need more adaptive responses that gram sabhas offer. CFRR demands shedding historical baggage and embracing new possibilities. The path forward is evident. The Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, launched by the Central government last year, introduced an indicative framework for CFR management plans. While the framework can be improved, it can be achieved through flexible and iterative practice by gram sabhas. MoTA must reject any attempt to derail CFR management through the red herring of NWPC compliance. And forest departments must provide funds and protection when required and discard a timber-oriented science in favour of a different science of a people-friendly forest management. Gautam Aredath, policy analyst at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment; Sharachchandra Lele, distinguished fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. Views are personal
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Business Standard
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Wildlife clearance not required for basic public facilities, MoTA clarifies
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has written to the environment ministry clarifying that wildlife clearance is not automatically required for constructing essential public facilities such as schools, anganwadis and roads on forest land under the Forest Rights Act (FRA)- 2006, provided they are recommended by the Gram Sabha. In an office memorandum issued on July 2, MoTA offered a detailed clarification on Section 3(2) of the FRA, which allows diversion of forest land for basic facilities such as schools, roads, health centres and irrigation projects for the benefit of forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs). "Section 3(2) of the FRA states that, notwithstanding anything contained in the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the Central government shall provide for diversion of forest land for facilities (including schools, health centers, roads, etc)... on forest land. The clearance of such a developmental project shall be subject to the condition that the Gram Sabha recommends the same," it said. In a letter issued in October 2020, the environment ministry had said that Section 13 of the FRA, which says the law is "in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being in force", implies that "wildlife clearance will be required for implementing Section 3(2) of the Act". The environment ministry letter had said that provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, remain unaffected by Section 3(2) of the FRA. However, the Tribal Affairs Ministry has now made it clear that Section 3(2) of the FRA is rooted in constitutional rights and safeguards, including Articles 14, 19(1)(e) and 21 of the Constitution, as well as the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, which protect tribal rights. The ministry cited landmark Supreme Court judgments, including Samatha vs State of Andhra Pradesh (1997) and TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India (1997), to emphasise that the FRA is a legal instrument to balance tribal rights, development needs and environmental concerns. The letter further said that the right to divert forest land under Section 3(2) must be read along with Sections 2(e), 4(1), 4(2), and 4(7) of the FRA. These provisions affirm that forest rights are "vested" in tribal and forest-dwelling communities to correct "historical injustices". Addressing concerns about potential conflicts with wildlife conservation, the ministry said, "Section 4(2) of the FRA specifies the permissible self limitation. It introduces the self-limiting exception, to the modification or resettlement of forest rights for wildlife conservation, only in Critical Wildlife Habitat." Referring to a joint 2009 guideline with the environment ministry outlining procedures for forest land diversion for non-forest purposes under Section 3(2) of the FRA, MoTA said that the stipulated procedure provides a "clear understanding that the wildlife clearance is not automatically mandated". The memorandum said that the rights granted under Section 3(2), when read with other relevant sections of the Act, are "a statutory entitlement deriving its mandate from the Constitution's Fundamental Rights, not contingent on external clearances unless explicitly stated in the FRA". Researcher C R Bijoy said a 2020 letter from the environment ministry has been widely used by forest officials to block basic facilities in forest villages under Section 3(2) of the FRA, despite no formal orders being issued to states. Forest rights experts claim forest villages have long been denied services like schools, roads and health centres that are available in regular revenue villages. Forest officials often block such projects, saying they are not legally allowed or citing forest conservation reasons. As a result, these villages remain some of the most neglected in the country. In many cases, even after the district-level committees approved the projects, forest officials stopped them, triggering protests. In some instances, courts have even issued stay orders based on the 2020 letter.
Indian Express
04-07-2025
- 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.'
Hans India
01-06-2025
- Hans India
MoTA New Delhi to grant Rs 1 cr for devpt of Tribal museum
Bhadrachalam: The Ministry of Tribal Welfare (MoTA) New Delhi has announced a grant of Rs 1 crore for the development of the Tribal Museum in the Bhadrachalam ITDA premises, said ITDA Project Officer B Rahul. On Saturday, ITDA unit officials congratulated Rahul for taking special care for the establishment and development of the Tribal museum. Speaking on the occasion, Rahul said that this museum was designed to be a feast for the eyes of tourists so that the tribal youth can learn about the culture, traditions, customs and rituals of the endangered tribal people and continue the traditions. He shared that he was invited to a conference organised by the Ministry of Tribal Welfare, New Delhi, at Taj Banjara in Hyderabad on Friday where he briefly explained about the artefacts of old generation tribals arranged at the Museum.
United News of India
30-05-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Two-day Southeast Zone states regional workshop on PM Janman being held in Hyderabad
Hyderabad, May 30 (UNI) A two-day Southeast Zone States Regional Workshop on PM Janman, Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA), organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), began here on Friday. Telangana Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Seethakka inaugurated the workshop which was attended by senior officials from MoTA and the Tribal Welfare Departments of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Telangana states. In her inaugural address, Seethakka said that the state government is diligently implementing the Scheduled Tribe Sub Plan Development Fund (ST SDF) scheme and is constructing over 22,000 permanent brick houses specifically for the state's tribal people. She also mentioned that recently, the state government launched the prestigious 'Indira Solar Giri Water Development' scheme, which provides solar-powered pumps to tribal farmers who have received podu land titles, enabling them to irrigate their lands and improving water management facilities. Since tribal people live in the forest, the Minister appealed to the central government to amend the Forest Department laws so that programmes aimed at their development are not hindered. Speaking on the occasion, Telangana State Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao stated that Telangana is setting an example for the entire country through the PM Janman and Dharti Abhijan National Village Excellence schemes, and that the state is steadily progressing in this direction. He stated that the benefits of every scheme implemented by the central and state governments reach every tribal person living in the forests. MoTA Additional Secretary Manish Thakur, who reviewed the implementation status of schemes in the states, offered several suggestions on how to implement these schemes more effectively. He praised the schemes being implemented in Telangana. UNI KNR RN
