GK: Understanding Forest Rights Act (ENVIRONMENT)

Large numbers of the tribals who gathered in Mumbai in March, 2018 were not seeking a loan waiver, but the implementation of the vision envisaged in Forest Rights Act, a legislation enacted by Parliament in 2006.

Their participation in the agitation in such large numbers suggests a new edge in the countryside’s despair — while successive drought years, inequitable water management and pricing policies have seen a slow impoverishment of the farmer community everywhere in Maharashtra, the circumstances for the landless are ever more exacting.

As farm incomes stagnate or shrink, labourers and those traditionally tilling forest lands or dependent on forest produce are in grave economic distress and have their hopes pinned on the government transferring to their names the small forest or community plots they till.

Why were people’s rights not respected when these forests were declared?

The Indian Forest Act, 1927, India’s main forest law, had nothing to do with conservation. It was created to serve the British need for timber. It sought to override customary rights and forest management systems by declaring forests state property and exploiting their timber. The law says that, at the time a “forest” is declared, a single official (the Forest Settlement Officer) is to enquire into and “settle” the land and forest rights people had in that area. These all-powerful officials unsurprisingly either did nothing or recorded only the rights of powerful communities.

The same model was subsequently built into the Wild Life Protection Act, passed in 1972, with similar consequences.

What does the Forest Rights Act do?

The Act basically does two things:

• Grants legal recognition to the rights of traditional forest dwelling communities, partially correcting the injustice caused by the forest laws.

• Makes a beginning towards giving communities and the public a voice in forest and wildlife conservation.

Who is a forest dweller under this law, and who gets rights?

There are two stages to be eligible under this Act. First, everyone has to satisfy two conditions:

1. Primarily residing in forests or forest lands;
2. Depends on forests and forest land for a livelihood (namely “bona fide livelihood needs”)

Second, you have to prove:

• That the above conditions have been true for 75 years, in which case you are an Other Traditional Forest Dweller (s. 2(o));

OR

• That you are a member of a Scheduled Tribe (s. 2(c)); and
• That you are residing in the area where they are Scheduled (s. 4(1)).

In the latter case you are a Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribe.

What kind of rights do forest dwellers get under this Act?

The law recognises three types of rights:

Land Rights

No one gets rights to any land that they have not been cultivating prior to December 13, 2005 (see section 4(3)) and that they are not cultivating right now. Those who are cultivating land but don’t have document can claim up to 4 hectares, as long as they are cultivating the land themselves for a livelihood (section 3(1) (a) and 4(6)). Those who have a patta or a government lease, but whose land has been illegally taken by the Forest Department or whose land is the subject of a dispute between Forest and Revenue Departments, can claim those lands (see section 3(1)(f) and (g)).

There is no question of granting 4 hectares of land to every family. If I am cultivating half a hectare on December 13, 2005, I receive title to that half a hectare alone; and if I am cultivating nothing, I receive nothing. If I am cultivating more than 4 hectares without documents or a dispute, I receive title to only 4 hectares. (Just for knowledge)

The land cannot be sold or transferred to anyone except by inheritance (see section 4(4)).

Use Rights

The law secondly provides for rights to use and/or collect the following:

a. Minor forest produce things like tendu patta, herbs, medicinal plants etc “that has been traditionally collected (see section 3(1) (c)). This does not include timber.

b. Grazing grounds and water bodies (sections 3

c. Traditional areas of use by nomadic or pastoralist communities i.e. communities that move with their herds, as opposed to practicing settled agriculture.

Right to Protect and Conserve

Though the forest is supposed to belong to all of us, till date no one except the Forest Department had a right to protect it. If the Forest Department should decide to destroy it, or to hand it over to someone who would, stopping them was a criminal offence.

For the first time, this law also gives the community the right to protect and manage the forest. Section 3(1) (i) provide a right and a power to conserve community forest resources, while section 5 gives the community a general power to protect wildlife, forests, etc. This is vital for the thousands of village communities who are protecting their forests and wildlife against threats from forest mafias, industries and land grabbers, most of whom operate in connivance with the Forest Department.

How are rights recognised?

Section 6 of the Act provides a transparent three step procedure for deciding on who gets rights. First, the gram sabha (full village assembly, NOT the gram panchayat) makes a recommendation – i.e who has been cultivating land for how long, which minor forest produce is collected, etc. The gram sabha plays this role because it is a public body where all people participate, and hence is fully democratic and transparent. The gram sabha’s recommendation goes through two stages of screening committees at the taluka and district levels. The district level committee makes the final decision (see section 6(6)). The Committees have six members – three government officers and three elected persons. At both the taluka and the district levels, any person who believes a claim is false can appeal to the Committees, and if they prove their case the right is denied (sections 6(2) and 6(4)). Finally, land recognised under this Act cannot be sold or transferred.