NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, in response to a request made for the first time by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), has provided access to details of the writ petitions and affidavits filed by stakeholders, including states, pertaining to land titles and implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006.
The petition dwells on the status of land titles given to scheduled tribes and other forest dwellers, claims that have been rejected, and issues concerning forest and wildlife conservation in the context of implementation of the FRA.
With the top court promptly giving access to the documents, the Commission sees this as an big step forward in enabling the study of all dimensions of the implementation of the FRA where striking a balance between rights of forest dwellers and conservation of forests and wildlife has been a much debated issue. It is learnt that the Commission has so far received affidavits of four states — Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Goa — from the court.
Meanwhile, the Centre informed Parliament on February 8that up to November 30, 2022, over 44. 66 lakh claims for individual forest rights (IFR) and community forest rights (CFR) have been received under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. While over 22. 49 lakh land titles (IFR &CFR) have been granted over17. 29 lakh claims have been rejected by states. In view of the ongoing case in SC, the Centre has beenasking states to review the rejections properly.
The government informed Parliament that reasons of rejections of claims as reported by state governments include non-occupation of forest land prior to December 13, 2005, claim being made on land other than forest land, multiple claims and the lack of sufficient documentary evidence.
The petition dwells on the status of land titles given to scheduled tribes and other forest dwellers, claims that have been rejected, and issues concerning forest and wildlife conservation in the context of implementation of the FRA.
With the top court promptly giving access to the documents, the Commission sees this as an big step forward in enabling the study of all dimensions of the implementation of the FRA where striking a balance between rights of forest dwellers and conservation of forests and wildlife has been a much debated issue. It is learnt that the Commission has so far received affidavits of four states — Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Goa — from the court.
Meanwhile, the Centre informed Parliament on February 8that up to November 30, 2022, over 44. 66 lakh claims for individual forest rights (IFR) and community forest rights (CFR) have been received under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. While over 22. 49 lakh land titles (IFR &CFR) have been granted over17. 29 lakh claims have been rejected by states. In view of the ongoing case in SC, the Centre has beenasking states to review the rejections properly.
The government informed Parliament that reasons of rejections of claims as reported by state governments include non-occupation of forest land prior to December 13, 2005, claim being made on land other than forest land, multiple claims and the lack of sufficient documentary evidence.
