The Genesis, Process, and Implications of the Forest Rights Act, 2006

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act, 2006, also known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA), has been in force for the last 13 years. While the evolution and impact of forest tenure rights in Latin America, parts of Africa, Indonesia, and Nepal have been analysed and documented widely, India’s legal experiment to recognise the ownership, use, access, and management rights of forest-dwelling communities relating to forest land is yet to be comprehensively analysed. This article provides an overview of the history, processes, and socio-economic implications of the FRA. Analysis of data on the status of FRA implementation from 2008 to 2020 reveals that its enforcement has been very uneven across the country. The article examines the factors determining the uneven implementation of FRA through case studies from three States. It is based on fieldwork and discussions with key stakeholders involved in the implementation of FRA in Odisha, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand between April 2014 and February 2020