20 Years of Forest Rights Act: Can it work without a tribal policy?

The Forest Rights Act (FRA) came into being in 2006. As we touch 20 years of its existence as a tool for tribal empowerment, the United Nations Development Programme, or the UNDP, has come out with a comprehensive new report, titled ‘Securing rights, Enabling Futures: Policy Lessons from Forest Rights Act and Future Pathways’. We know that the Forest Rights Act seeks to remedy a historical injustice against forest-dwelling communities, who have paid the heaviest price for ‘development’ through displacement and dispossession. This law restores the rights of these communities to live on forest land, and to use forest resources. While this sounds great in principle, it has run into many challenges in practice – including resistance from the forest bureaucracy itself. Recently, in a shocking development, thousands of forest rights titles disappeared from the records of the Chhattisgarh government. And in a stance that, on the face of it, would alarm forest-dwelling communities, the UNDP report suggests building a consensus for a ‘sunset clause’ that provides an ‘end date’ for the recognition and vesting of rights under the FRA – what does it mean? Why do we need a sunset clause for forest rights? Also, how can thousands of forest rights titles disappear all of a sudden? More broadly, how effective has been the implementation of the FRA so far, and what is required to make it more effective? Guests: Kanchi Kohli, well-known expert in environment and forest policy who has co-authored the UNDP report, and Abhinay Lakshman, who covers the FRA for The Hindu. Host: G Sampath Edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston

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