interview
Forest Rights Act, 2006 : The Struggle for Implementation - Part I
2020
Summary
Activists Ambrish Mehta and Trupti Mehta (Parekh) of ARCH-Vahini explain the architecture of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the obstacles to implementing it on the ground. The speaker walks through the two principal categories of rights the Act recognizes: individual rights over land cultivated or occupied before December 2005, and community rights vested in the Gram Sabha — including 100% ownership of all minor forest produce. A notable shift, the speaker emphasizes, is that the 2006 Act reclassified bamboo as a minor forest produce (rather than a tree, as the Indian Forest Act had treated it), transferring its ownership to forest-dwelling communities.
The speaker treats the most consequential provision as the right of communities to sustainably use and manage their forests, including preparing their own management plans that must be incorporated into the forest department's working plan. The remainder of the segment turns to the practical burden this places on Gram Sabhas — inviting claims, verifying evidence, conducting field verification, and adjudicating pre-2005 occupation — in tribal areas where literacy is limited. The Act's provision for a Forest Rights Committee, drawn from Gram Sabha members, is presented as the mechanism by which this work is delegated.
Key points
- The Forest Rights Act, 2006 recognizes two principal categories of rights: individual rights over land cultivated or occupied before December 2005, and community rights vested in the Gram Sabha.
- The Act grants Gram Sabhas 100% ownership of all minor forest produce, including bamboo — which the earlier Indian Forest Act had classified as a tree.
- Community rights extend to water, water bodies, grazing, and intellectual property rights tied to forest resources.
- The speaker considers the right to sustainably use and manage the forest — and to have community-prepared management plans included in the forest department's working plan — the Act's most important provision.
- Gram Sabhas are responsible for inviting claims, recording evidence, conducting field verification, and adjudicating whether occupation predated 2005.
- Implementation is hampered by low literacy in tribal areas, making the verification and documentation burden on Gram Sabhas onerous.
- The Act provides for a Forest Rights Committee, formed from within the Gram Sabha, to carry out this work on its behalf.
Transcript
Forest Rights Act, 2006 : The Struggle for Implementation - Part I
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mcSR2vAUBA Duration: 233.9s
Speaker (00:05): As I said, this act recognizes two types of mainly two types of rights. One is individual rights on individual land for cultivation and for habitation. And there is a condition that the land should be occupied before 2005, December 2005. Another very important provision of this act is Gram Sabhas and people’s rights on the forest resources. That includes rights on all minor forest produce. That is ownership. 100% ownership rights on all minor forest produces, including bamboo. And that is the first time the Forest Rights Act, because in the Indian Forest Act, bamboo was considered a tree. But in 2006, the Forest Rights Act considered bamboo as minor forest produce and not trees. And so it gives 100% ownership rights of bamboo and other minor forest produce to the Gram Sabha and the people. Another means other rights are rights of water, water waste, water produce, grazing, all sorts of these things. My my means and intellectual property rights also. But the most important right which is given in this act, is right to manage, to use sustainably and to manage their — and not only that, people, means they are interested to prepare a management plan of their forest. That would be and that should be included in the forest department’s working plan. And I think that is the most important provision for our right recognizing this act. And so what happened that as I said, Gram Sabha was interested to initiate the process, to invite the claims, to record the claimants’ evidences or to verify them, to go for a field verification and to write down whatever was there and not means and after all these verification, verification of the field and of the record, then they will have to come to a conclusion that whether he or she was cultivating this land or having means she he or she was occupying this land for cultivation or for habitation before 2005 or not. And if yes, how much? So in that sense, Gram Sabha’s task and Gram Sabha’s responsibility was too much. And as you know, in tribal areas, most of the people are either semi literate or many of them are illiterate. And so the it was a very big task, big responsibility on the heirs of the Gram Sabha. There is a provision in the act to that the Gram Sabha would form a forest rights committee amongst from amongst the members of the Gram Sabha. And the forest rights committee would carry out all this work on behalf of the Gram Sabha.
Notable passages
"this act recognizes two types of mainly two types of rights. One is individual rights on individual land for cultivation and for habitation."
"the most important right which is given in this act, is right to manage, to use sustainably and to manage their — and not only that, people, means they are interested to prepare a management plan of their forest."
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