The FRA Paradox: When a good intentional Law Becomes a Political Tool against nature
Dr VK Bahuguna
January 14, 2026
The Forest Right Act 2006 is the one unique Act which was unequivocally supported by all the major political parties in the country. The Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 was though envisioned as a "Healing Touch" for India’s tribal population. However, almost after two decades later, the Act has been hollowed out by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and state governments, transforming it into a political instrument for first promoting encroachments on forests and then regularizing it through recommendations of the Gram Sabha as per the provision of the Act. The Gram Sabhas have a conflict of interest with the Act itself. The Gram Sabha members’ first encroach on forest and then sit to regularize it. Thus, in the high-stakes electoral landscapes of Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh, the FRA is no longer about "rights"—it is about "votes." An Act of this kind when historical injustice is dealt with must have a last cut off date just like the current Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the country by the Election Commission. There was no cut off date for application filing and the open ended nature of this Act is promoting encroachments due to competitive politics that is engulfing the forest areas and big conflicts are brewing over in forest areas especially with JFM Committees. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in its zeal to show target driven "progress," has often pressured local administrations to ignore satellite evidence thus giving scope for encroachments. The Forest Department’s time-series imagery unequivocally proves that thousands of hectares were cleared after the 2005 cut-off date, the Gram Sabhas—often under the patronage of local political brokers—are encouraged to override scientific truth with populist claims with the net result that country is not correcting a "historical injustice"; we are incentivizing fresh deforestation. In this regards the silence of forest establishment is of the country is intriguing and is contrary to their mandate and the Forest Survey of India 2023 status report is quite clear on the adverse impact of this Acts faulty implementation.
The much-touted "Gadchiroli Model" of bamboo management—celebrated by MoTA and activist as the pinnacle of community empowerment—should instead serve as an eye opener. While ‘Mendha-Lekha’ became the poster village for "Bamboo Liberation," the reality across the wider district is grim due to over-Extraction. Under the guise of Community Forest Rights (CFR), bamboo is being harvested at an industrial scale without the scientific rigor of the Forest Department's Working Plans. The fact is without technical oversight, bamboo clumps are over-exploited for quick cash, leading to the depletion of the resource. Vast tracts of once-lush bamboo forests in Gadchiroli have been reduced to stumps, as the "community management" failed to account for the biological cycle of the plant. In Madhya Pradesh and Odisha also, research indicates a visible surge in the reconsideration of previously rejected claims.
It is high time that the Secretary Forests and DG Forests in Government of India and PCCF of Maharashtra brings out a white paper on Gadchiroli model and other states model as also the IFS Association should work for truthful implementation of the Act for genuine tribal interests.
It is necessary because to retain good natural forests in the country is an absolute necessity in the midst of climatic vagaries to maintain water, agriculture and ecological security.
This writer has been long associated with forest-tribal issues both as Inspector General of Forests in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change as well as in the Tribal dominated State of Tripura as Principal Secretary and also as researcher and research manager as DG ICFRE at the national level organizations like ICFRE and faculty in IIFM. I have deep understanding of tribal issues that have been festering sub-divisional level committees of Revenue, Forest and Tribal Welfare Departments to settle the disputed settlement claims of the tribals during reservation process of the forests. This was done when the activists opposed the enactment of Forest Conservation Act 1980. People who have read forest history know full well that during Brandis time who was a German Botanist and experienced forester and country’s first Inspector-General of Forest (appointed in 1864 to head the forest department) was undoubtedly one of the most pro-people British officer at the whelm of affairs had during reservation process ensured that two third of forests in and around a village are left for the use of local people. Further, he ensured that before reservation the foresters at the village level used to beat the drums and tell people clearly about their rights and objections. Sadly, however, all those two third forests were banished by the powerful village lords and people themselves.
Having said this, however, there were several cases of disputed settlement cases after the ex- princely and ex-Jamidari forests were swiftly converted to reserve and protected forests after independence. But the sub-divisional level committee set up in 1989 did not come up with solution nor they reported any such cases in any state but the activist and few political activists devised a way by encouraging encroachments and such request for regularization kept flooding in the Ministry by subsuming the role of the Committee. In 2004 when the UPA government came to power with the support of left parties the FRA was enacted in 2006 and left hoped to make a dent in north Indian states but they failed. It was a political counter to NDA regime’s February 2004 order of regularising pre 1980 encroachments by realising such lands under the FC Act. Had this order of NDA or even FRA Act been implemented in a truthful and impartial manner it would have been one of the best intervention in tribal welfare.
In nutshell, this Act need immediate review at the highest level and as a first step fix a last date for application because as stated above, if the FRA continues to be used as an electoral instrument, India will soon have 'titled' citizens living in a desert and our rivers devoid of water. True forest rights cannot exist without the forest itself. It is time to depoliticize the FRA and return to a science-based, conservation-first approach as the Act was designed to give the forest-dweller a stake in conservation; instead, it has been weaponized to carve up India's last remaining carbon and water sinks.1076 words
(Tripurainfo)
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