Forest rights Act Implementation:
The Forest Rights Act, also known as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is a legislation aimed at recognizing and vesting forest rights to tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers. The act provides for the restitution of their traditional rights over forestland and resources.
Jharkhand, being a state with a significant tribal population and vast forested areas, has been implementing the Forest Rights Act since its enactment. The FRA provides for two types of forest rights:
Individual Forest Rights:
These include the right to hold and live in forestland under individual or household ownership, the right to cultivate land for sustenance, and other traditional forest-related activities.
Community Forest Rights:
These include the right to access, manage, and govern forest resources for collective use and conservation by the community.
The state government has taken steps to facilitate the implementation of the Act by establishing a three tier structure consisting of Gram Panchayat, Sub-Divisional Level committe and District Level Committee as per the provisions of FRA. The Gram Panchayat plays a very vital role in receiving, processing and recommending the individual or community rights claimed in the village duly assisted by Forest Rights Committees (FRCs) at the gram panchayat level. Thereafter the Sub-Divisional and District level committees finalise the issue of titles of the individual or community rights and makes necessary corrections in the relevant Government records.
In Bokaro region, efforts have been made to raise awareness about the Forest Rights Act and facilitate the filing of claims by eligible individuals and communities. However, challenges such as inadequate awareness, and overlapping claims have been reported in the implementation process.
A brief snapshot of the claims received and Forest right certificate issued, both in terms of area and number of claims approved are given below:
