Context: The Central government has sanctioned over 300 FRA Cells to facilitate the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 across 18 states and UTs.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key Features of FRA Cells, FRA 2006, DAJGUA.
Pending Forest Rights Claims
- According to the March 2025 progress report, about 14.45% of the 51.11 lakh forest rights claims filed under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 across 21 States/UTs still remain pending.
- Even among the 43 lakh disposed claims, over 42% have been rejected indicating serious issues in the implementation process.
To address these long-standing delays and rejections, the Union government has sanctioned over 300 FRA Cells across 18 states & UTs.
About Forest Right Act 2006
- Also known as Schedule Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act.
- The act recognises and vests the forest rights and occupation in Forest land in Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) who have been residing in such forests for generations.
The Act identifies Four Types of Rights:
- Title rights: Gives FDST and OTFD, the right to ownership of land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares. Ownership is only for land that is being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands will be granted. It also provides for Community rights over minor forest produce and other resources.
- Use rights: The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas, pastoralist routes, etc.
- Relief and development rights: To rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection.
- Forest management rights: It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.
Key Facts:
- The Act recognises both individuals and community rights.
- The decision and declaration of Habitat rights under FRA is in the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
- The claim needs to be approved by the Gram Sabha. The decision of the Gram Sabha to reject or allow the claim can be appealed before court.
About FRA Cells
- FRA Cells are created in districts and states to assist in implementing the Forest Rights Act, 2006, law meant to give forest rights to Scheduled Tribes and forest-dwelling communities.
- This is being done under a new scheme called Dharti Aba Janjati Gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan (DAJGUA ).
Key details about FRA Cells:
- Until now, implementation of the FRA, has been the domain of State and Union Territory governments who were supposed to form local committees like Gram Sabhas, Sub-Divisional Level Committees (SDLCs), District Level Committees (DLCs), etc., to process land claims.
- Now, under DAJGUA, 324 district-level FRA cells and 17 state-level FRA cells have been approved. The rules governing the operation of these cells flow from the DAJGUA programme and not the principal legislation of the FRA.
- FRA Cells are meant to help tribal people and Gram Sabhas prepare documents, manage data, and push pending claims, not to interfere in decision-making.
- The highest number of district FRA cells are sanctioned in Madhya Pradesh (55), followed by Chhattisgarh (30), Telangana, Maharashtra, Assam, and Jharkhand.
- Though FRA cells function under state machinery as per DAJGUA rules, they are centrally funded through Grants-in-Aid General, as seen in sanction orders for states like Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and Odisha. The guidelines provide a budget of ₹8.67 lakh for each FRA cell at the district level, and ₹25.85 lakh for each State-level FRA cell.
Dharti Aba Janjati Gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan (DAJGUA):
- A central sector scheme launched in October 2024.
- Purpose: To Improve tribal welfare across 68,000 tribal-dominated villages by bringing together 25 interventions of 17 line ministries.
- One component of the DAJGUA programme is to speed up FRA implementation.
Concerns: Forest rights activists and experts have raised concerns of FRA Cells being a parallel FRA mechanism outside of FRA’s purview and that it could weaken community control.