Chhattisgarh Forest Rights Under Threat? Protestors demand reversal of forest department's move undermining Gram Sabha powers

Time of India

5 days ago

RAIPUR:
A massive wave of protests erupted across Chhattisgarh on July 1 and 2 by thousands of people, against an order issued by the dorest department that undermines the Forest Rights Act (FRA 2006) and the constitutional powers of Gram Sabhas.
The demonstrations, supported by local Gram Sabhas, tribal organizations, and social activists, took place in multiple districts including Nagari (Dhamtari), Narayanpur, Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi, Ambikapur in Surguja, Kanker, Gariaband, Pithora in Mahasamund, Balod, and Bastar.
Condemning the Forest Department's May 15, 2025 letter, Alok Shukla, convenor of Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan (CBA) who prominently works on forest and tribal rights said, 'The order illegally declares the department itself as the nodal authority under the FRA, which is a direct violation of the tribal development department's jurisdiction.
Furthermore, under the guise of the National Working Plan Code 2023 promoting scientific forest management, the department threatened to curtail community forest resource management supported by Gram Sabhas and other departments.
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He referred to a letter issued by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests V Sreenivasa Rao citing a withdrawn 2020 order that had incorrectly made the Forest Department the nodal agency for implementing community forest resource (CFR) rights—a move strongly opposed by tribal rights groups.
Chhattisgarh's forest department said it will decide on managing CFR lands only after receiving it. Until then, only forest working plans approved by the Environment Ministry should be followed, even in community rights areas.
The letter strictly prohibits any other departments, NGOs, or private entities from working within CFR areas until the model plan is received. However, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 2015 guidelines allow Gram Sabhas to create their own simple conservation and management plans for CFR lands.
The Forest Rights Act (2006) grants tribals and forest-dependent communities rights over lands they have protected for generations, empowering Gram Sabhas to manage and conserve community forest resources and prevent harmful activities. At the national level, MoTA is the nodal authority, while tribal welfare departments handle this at the state level. The forest department's role is supportive—verifying claims, providing maps, and assisting in land demarcation—but not decisive.
In Chhattisgarh, 4.78 lakh individual land titles have been granted over 3.82 lakh hectares, and CFR rights cover over 20,000 square kilometers in 4,349 cases.
Forest and tribal rights activist Alok Shukla noted that the previous state government faced backlash over the 2020 order and had to amend it. He emphasized that the forest department is not the nodal agency for implementing the Forest Rights Act, and any state order claiming otherwise is illegal and undermines the Act's goal of democratizing forest governance and empowering communities.
Though the department later issued another letter stating that the forest department would act as a convenor but also stated that no other department other than forest department will manage forest land given to tribal communities under FRA until the Centre govt provides a plan for how the forests should be managed.
This move puts community control over 20,000 square kilometers of forest land at serious risk. In response, thousands of people in tribal areas and districts staged spontaneous rallies and submitted memorandums to district officials addressed to Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai.
The memorandums stressed that the department's order not only violates the spirit of the Forest Rights Act but also contravenes constitutional provisions granted to Scheduled areas, such as the PESA Act, the Fifth Schedule, and the supreme authority of Gram Sabha decisions.
Activists warned that if the Forest Department continues to overstep and deprive Gram Sabhas of their rights, it will disrupt the democratic forest management process.
Protestors warned, if the government does not immediately revoke the order and officially designate the Tribal Development Department as the FRA nodal agency, they will escalate their campaign through mass awareness drives, peaceful satyagrahas, and assembly sit-ins.