Over 39,000 forest right claims rejected in J&K since 2020: GoI

New Delhi, Jul 24: The Government of India (GoI) on Thursday informed the Parliament that out of 46,090 claims filed under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in Jammu & Kashmir till May 31, 2025, only 6,020 titles have been granted, while 39,924 claims, over 86 per cent have been rejected.
The figures were presented in a written reply by Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Durga Das Uikey, in response to a question raised in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The FRA, enacted in 2006, provides legal recognition of land rights to forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.
According to the data, Jammu & Kashmir has received 33,233 individual claims and 12,857 community claims under the FRA. Of these, only 429 individual and 5,591 community titles have been distributed. A total of 32,727 individual claims and 7,197 community claims have been rejected.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), which is the nodal authority for FRA implementation, stated that enforcement lies primarily with the States and Union Territories. The Ministry added that it regularly issues directions and guidelines to ensure proper implementation of the Act and has also advised district collectors to dispose of pending claims in a time-bound manner.
In response to concerns about evictions and delays in recognising forest rights, the Ministry reiterated that the Act includes safeguards. Section 4(5) of the FRA states that no forest-dwelling tribal or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted from their land until the claims process is completed.
To facilitate implementation, the Ministry has provided funding under the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DA-JGUA) to set up dedicated FRA cells in states and districts. These are intended to expedite the verification and approval of claims, support digitisation efforts, and help in mapping forest areas through the proposed FRA Atlas. (KNO)