Lok Sabha Question No. 3325 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-20
Subject: Implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Smt. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Shri Raja Ram Singh, Shri Rahul Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 3325

To be answered On- 20/03/2025

## IMPLEMENTATION OF FOREST RIGHTS ACT, 2006

3325. Smt. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi:

Shri Rahul Gandhi:

Shri Raja Ram Singh:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware of the status of implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;

(b) the details of the number of Individual Forest Rights (IFRs) and Community Forest Rights (CFRs) titles provided to people belonging to the ST community and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) since the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, State/UT-wise;

(c) whether the Government is also aware that many eligible beneficiaries have been denied titles in several States and if so, the remedial mechanisms in place for such beneficiaries to claim their IFR;

(d) the details of IFR claims filed and rejected along with the details of rejected claims sent for review and re-rejected, State/UT-wise;

(e) the number of applications-individual and collective-received by the Government for grant of pattas under FRA and the number of applications accepted, rejected and are pending during the last five years, year and State/UT-wise;

(f)  the  action  taken  by  the  Government  on  the  forest  and  other  departments  officials  who  are evicting Adivasis and other traditional forest dwellers in the name of illegality; and

(g) whether tribals and Other Forest Dwellers (OFDs) have been evicted due to rejection of claims under the Forest Rights Act and if so, the details of tribals and OFDs evicted since 2019 , State/UTwise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGA DAS UIKEY)

(a),  (b),  (d)  &  (e): As  per  the  Scheduled  Tribes  and  Other  Traditional  Forest  Dwellers (Recognition  of  Forest  Rights)  Act,  2006  and  Rules  made  thereunder,  State  Governments  are responsible  for  implementation  of  various  provisions  of  the  Act  while  the  Ministry  of  Tribal Affairs seeks Monthly Progress Report from the States/UTs. FRA is being implemented in 20 States and 1 UT. The Act provides for an institutional framework for the claims process, where claims are first called and reviewed by the Gram Sabha and then forwarded to the Sub-Divisional Level Committee. Afterward, the District Level Committee decides the claims. These committees are constituted by the State Governments / UT administrations.

As reported by States/UTs, cumulatively till 28th February, 2025, a total of 25,03,453 titles have been distributed comprising 23,85,334 individual and 1,18,119 community titles. Similarly,  a total of 48,99,903 individual claims filed at Gram Sabha Level and a total of  18,03,183 claims have been  rejected.  A  statement  showing  state  wise  details  of  titles  distributed  (Individual  and Community), claims filed and claims rejected and also pending is at Annexure . The segregated details of titles provided to ST community and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) are not centrally maintained. Further as implementation is prerogative of state therefore detail of claims sent for review and re- rejected is also not centrally maintained. The details of number of claims (individual and community) received for grant of pattas/titles under FRA, the number of claims accepted  (Title  distributed)  &  rejected  during  the  last  five  years,  year  and  State/UT-wise  are available at this Ministry's website- on FRA- MPR-  https://tribal.nic.in/FRA.aspx.

(c) & (f) : The Act provides  provisions of  safeguard against eviction and also provision of petition by the aggrieved to SDLC and DLC (Section 6(2) and 6(4)) . Further, the State Level Monitoring Committee under the Chair of Chief Secretary is to meet at least once in three months to monitor the process of recognition, verification and vesting of forest rights, consider and address the field level problems.

The Ministry has been exhorting all State Governments to abide by the provisions contained in FRA and ensure that all eligible claimants are provided the rights which are due to them. For comprehensive implementation, the Ministry is also urging states to prepare FRA Atlas to  map the potential forest areas which can be considered under FRA and undertake capacity building of all  stakeholders.  Regular  meetings  are  conducted  with  the  State  Governments  on  the  matter. Grievances/representations received in the Ministry regarding violation of FRA are forwarded to the States/ UTs concerned, to ensure that legitimate claimants are not denied their forest rights. The data related to action taken by the State Government is not centrally maintained. Further, to resolve  field  level  coordination  issues,  this  Ministry  and  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  & Climate Change have issued joint advisories to Chief secretaries of all the states.

(g): This  data  is  not  centrally  maintained.  However, the matter related to eviction is currently subjudice in Hon'ble Supreme Court vide WP 109/2008.

Annexure Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (a),  (b)  (d)  &  (e)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred Question No. 3325 regarding 'Implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006' asked by Smt. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Shri Rahul Gandhi and Shri Raja Ram Singh : State  wise  details  of  claims  filed,  titles  distributed  and  Rejected  claims,  as  per

## information received from States/UTs upto 28.02.2025:( cumulative numbers)

| S. N o.   | States            | No. of Claims filed   | No. of Claims filed   | No. of Claims filed   | No. of Titles Distributed   | No. of Titles Distributed   | No. of Titles Distributed   | No. of Rejected Claims   | No. of Rejected Claims   | No. of Rejected Claims   | Total No. of Pending Claims   |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|
| S. N o.   | States            | Individ ual           | Commun ity            | Total                 | Individ ual                 | Commun ity                  | Total                       | Individ ual              | Commun ity               | Total                    | Total No. of Pending Claims   |
| 1         | Andhra Prades h   | 285,087               | 3,294                 | 288,38 1              | 226,651                     | 1,822                       | 228,47 3                    | 56,940                   | 1,470                    | 58,410                   | 1,498                         |
| 2         | Assam             | 148,965               | 6,046                 | 155,01 1              | 57,325                      | 1,477                       | 58,802                      | NA/NR                    | NA/NR                    | NA/NR                    | NA/NR                         |
| 3         | Bihar             | 4,696                 | 0                     | 4,696                 | 191                         | 0                           | 191                         | 4496                     | 0                        | 4496                     | 9                             |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh      | 888,028               | 53,949                | 941,97 7              | 478,563                     | 49,270                      | 527,83 3                    | 397,419                  | 3,230                    | 400,64 9                 | 13,495                        |
| 5         | Goa               | 9,757                 | 379                   | 10,136                | 856                         | 15                          | 871                         | 170                      | 8                        | 178                      | 9,087                         |
| 6         | Gujarat           | 182,869               | 7,187                 | 190,05 6              | 98,289                      | 4,791                       | 103,08 0                    | 0                        | 2,332                    | 2,332                    | 84,644                        |
| 7         | Himachal Pra desh | 4,880                 | 539                   | 5,419                 | 513                         | 146                         | 659                         | 54                       | 0                        | 54                       | 4,706                         |
| 8         | Jharkhand         | 107,032               | 3,724                 | 110,75 6              | 59,866                      | 2,104                       | 61,970                      | 26,370                   | 1,737                    | 28,107                   | 20,679                        |
| 9         | Karnataka         | 288,549               | 5,940                 | 294,48 9              | 14,981                      | 1,345                       | 16,326                      | 249,060                  | 4,209                    | 253,26 9                 | 24,894                        |
| 10        | Kerala            | 44,455                | 991                   | 45,446                | 29,139                      | 261                         | 29,400                      | 12,681                   | 296                      | 12,977                   | 3,069                         |
| 11        | Madhya Prade sh   | 585,326               | 42,187                | 627,51 3              | 266,901                     | 27,976                      | 294,87 7                    | 310,216                  | 12,191                   | 322,40 7                 | 10,229                        |
| 12        | Maharashtra       | 397,897               | 11,259                | 409,15 6              | 199,667                     | 8,668                       | 208,33 5                    | 170,487                  | 2,144                    | 172,63 1                 | 28,190                        |
| 13        | Odisha            | 691,948               | 31,893                | 723,84 1              | 461,475                     | 8,634                       | 470,10 9                    | 144,104                  | 532                      | 144,63 6                 | 109,096                       |
| 14        | Rajasthan         | 113,162               | 5,213                 | 118,37 5              | 49,215                      | 2,551                       | 51,766                      | 63,466                   | 2,455                    | 65,921                   | 688                           |
| 15        | Tamil Nadu        | 33,119                | 1,548                 | 34,667                | 15,442                      | 1,066                       | 16,508                      | 12,293                   | 418                      | 12,711                   | 5,448                         |
| 16        | Telangana         | 651,822               | 3,427                 | 655,24 9              | 230,735                     | 721                         | 231,45 6                    | 92,744                   | 1682                     | 94,426                   | 329,367                       |
| 17        | Tripura           | 200,557               | 164                   | 200,72 1              | 127,931                     | 101                         | 128,03 2                    | 68,785                   | 63                       | 68,848                   | 3,841                         |
| 18        | Uttar Pradesh     | 92,972                | 1,194                 | 94,166                | 22,537                      | 893                         | 23,430                      | 70,435                   | 301                      | 70,736                   | 0                             |
| 19        | Uttarakhand       | 3,587                 | 3,091                 | 6,678                 | 184                         | 1                           | 185                         | 3403                     | 3090                     | 6493                     | 0                             |
| 20        | West Bengal       | 131,962               | 10,119                | 142,08 1              | 44,444                      | 686                         | 45,130                      | 87,333                   | 9254                     | 96,587                   | 364                           |
| 21        | Jammu &Kas hmir   | 33,233                | 12,857                | 46,090                | 429                         | 5,591                       | 6,020                       | 32727                    | 7,197                    | 39,924                   | 146                           |
| TOTAL     | TOTAL             | 4,899,9 03            | 205,001               | 5,104,9 04            | 2,385,3 34                  | 118,119                     | 2,503,4 53                  | 1,803,18 3               | 52,609                   | 1,855,7 92               | 745,659                       |

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