Forest rights Act

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is a people-centric law for forests, which recognises the rights of forest- dwelling communities to use and manage forest resources.
With more than 150 million forest dwellers, the scope of FRA is immense to protect their livelihoods, and engage them in sustainable forest management.

Title rights – Ownership to land that is being farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares; ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated by the concerned family, meaning that no new lands are granted.
Use rights – to minor forest produce (also including ownership), to grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.
Relief and development rights – to rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement; and basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection.
Forest management rights – to protect forests and wildlife.

To qualify as Other Traditional Forest Dweller (OTFD) and be eligible for recognition of rights under FRA, two conditions need to be fulfilled:
- Primarily resided in forest or forests land for three generations (75 years) prior to 13-12-2005, and
- Depend on the forest or forests land for bonafide livelihood needs.
To qualify as a Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribe (FDST) and be eligible for recognition of rights under FRA, three conditions must be satisfied by the applicant/s, who could be “members or community”:
- Must be a Scheduled Tribe in the area where the right is claimed; and
- Primarily resided in forest or forests land prior to 13-12-2005; and
- Depend on the forest or forests land for bonafide livelihood needs.
The FRA provides that a forest right conferred under the Act shall be heritable but not alienable or transferable, and shall be registered jointly in the name of both the spouses in case of married persons and in the name of the single head in the case of a household headed by a single person.

The Act provides that the gram sabha, or village assembly, will initially pass a resolution recommending whose rights to which resources should be recognised.
This resolution is then screened and approved at the level of the sub-division (or taluka) and subsequently at the district level.
The screening committees consist of three government officials (Forest, Revenue and Tribal Welfare departments) and three elected members of the local body at that level. These committees also hear appeals.

Claims over forest land of nearly 1,200 tribals in Hunsur taluk of Mysuru district, Karnataka, under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, was recently rejected by the local authorities.
In Mysuru, 7,275 tribals had originally sought benefits under the forest rights Act (FRA), of which 755 were approved and 6,459 rejected.

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