Twelve Years Later: Implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, popularly known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA) has been operational since the last twelve years. A close look at the status of the forest rights claims database available on the Ministry of Tribal Affairs website reveals that the implementation of the FRA has been uneven across the country. This paper analyses the implementation of the FRA, as revealed through claim settlements and the recognition or rejection of forest dwellers’ rights across the states. The trends and directions of the FRA implementation will be useful to research scholars, forest rights groups, practitioners, lawyers and policy makers, to evolve strategies to upscale implementation of the FRA.