NEW DELHI — A recent opinion piece in Deccan Herald asserts that the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006, intended to empower tribal and traditional forest-dwelling communities, is being widely misused, leading to rampant deforestation and corruption across India. According to the author, a retired principal chief conservator of forests, the act has become a tool for clearing forests for personal and political gain, rather than upholding the rights of indigenous peoples.
The article details a process where legitimate evidence, such as satellite imagery, is being disregarded in favor of fraudulent land claims. This misuse is reportedly encouraged by political parties seeking electoral gains and by relaxed rules from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), the nodal agency for the FRA’s implementation.
Several states, including Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Telangana, are highlighted as hotspots for this misuse. The report cites instances where illegal forest occupations have been regularized under the guise of the act. In one particularly striking example, a Telangana chief minister is said to have promised to distribute a vast tract of forest land, with numerous claims being approved despite objections from forest officials.
The article explains that both individual forest rights (IFR) and community forest resource rights (CFRR) are being exploited to clear valuable timber. In some cases, village councils (gram sabhas) have even prevented forest officers from entering these areas. This mismanagement is contributing to the rapid degradation of forests, with a case in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district cited as an example where cleared bamboo forests failed to regenerate.
The author concludes with a stark warning: India cannot afford to lose its forests in the face of escalating climate disasters. The piece argues that while the FRA’s original intent was noble, its current implementation is a grave threat to the country’s ecological future.