FRA Cells Setup to Facilitate Forest Right Act | 21 Jun 2025

Source: TH 

Why in News? 

The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, under the has sanctioned the setting up of 324 district-level Forest Rights Act (FRA) cells across 18 States/UTs to facilitate the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 under Dharti Aba Janjati Gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan (DAJGUA). 

What are District-Level Forest Rights Act (FRA) Cells? 

• About: District-level FRA Cells are administrative support units established under the DAJGUA scheme to facilitate the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. 
  • These cells are centrally funded via Grants-in-aid by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs. 
• Objective: To assist tribal claimants and Gram Sabhas in preparing and submitting forest rights claims, especially in tribal-dominated districts, aiming to reduce delays and rejections by improving documentation, field facilitation, and data management. 
• Legal Basis: These cells operate under DAJGUA guidelines, not the FRA Act itself. 
• Key Functions: 
  • Facilitate demarcation of vested forest land and conversion of forest habitations and un-surveyed villages into revenue villages. 
  • Support digitisation and timely uploading of FRA records to State and Central portals. 
  • Coordinate with State Tribal Welfare Departments, local administration, and Gram Sabhas to streamline FRA processes. 
• Key Concerns Related to New FRA Cells: 
  • Creation of FRA Cells might lead to the formation of a parallel system outside the Forest Rights Act’s statutory framework, resulting in confusion regarding roles and responsibilities. 
  • There is a risk that FRA Cells may overlap with existing statutory bodies like Gram Sabha Forest Rights Committees (FRCs), Sub-Divisional Level Committees (SDLCs), District Level Committees (DLCs) and State Monitoring Committees in roles such as claimant assistance, documentation, coordination, and record-keeping leading to confusion about responsibilities and hinder smooth implementation. 
  • Structural issues like irregular meetings of SDLCs and DLCs and delays by Forest Departments in implementing approved claims are unlikely to be resolved by the new FRA Cells alone. 

What is the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006? 

• About: The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or Forest Rights Act (FRA), seeks to correct historical injustices faced by forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) who lacked legal ownership over forest land and resources. 
• Objectives: To vest forest land rights in eligible forest-dwelling communities, ensuring livelihood security, community-based forest governance, and legal protection against evictions. 
• Key Provisions: 
  • Ownership Rights: Grants ownership over Minor Forest Produce (MFP). Allows collection, use, and disposal of forest produce.  
    • MFP refers to all non-timber forest products of plant origin, including bamboo, brushwood, stumps, and canes.  
  • Community Rights: Includes traditional usage rights such as Nistar (a type of Community Forest Resource).  
  • Habitat Rights: Protects the rights of primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities to their traditional habitats.  
  • Community Forest Resource (CFR): Enables communities to protect, regenerate, and sustainably manage forest resources they have traditionally conserved.  
    • The Act facilitates the diversion of forest land for public welfare projects managed by the government, subject to Gram Sabha approval.  
• Decentralised Framework: FRA follows a bottom-up governance model, empowering the Gram Sabha to initiate and verify claims. 
  • Forest Rights Committees (FRCs) are formed by the Gram Sabha to process claims at the village level. 
  • These claims are reviewed by Sub-Divisional Level Committees (SDLCs) and approved by District Level Committees (DLCs). State Monitoring Committees oversee overall implementation. 

What is the Significance of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006? 

• Recognition of Historical Rights: FRA, 2006 corrects historical injustice by legally recognizing the individual rights (up to 4 hectares for eligible STs and OTFDs) and community rights (grazing, fishing, minor forest produce, water bodies, etc.) of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) over forest land and resources, overlooked under colonial and post-colonial forest laws. 
  • It also recognizes habitat rights of PVTGs and seasonal access for nomadic groups. 
• Empowerment through Decentralized Governance: The Act empowers the Gram Sabha to verify claims, manage Community Forest Resources (CFRs), conserve biodiversity, and oversee sustainable forest governance, promoting decentralized, participatory decision-making. 
• Protection from Eviction and Right to Development: Along with the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, it safeguards forest dwellers from eviction without rehabilitation, and permits allocation of forest land for essential community infrastructure like education, health, and housing. 
• Inclusive and Sustainable Conservation: Assigns responsibility to rights holders and Gram Sabhas for conservation of forests, wildlife, water sources, and ecological zones, blending traditional knowledge with sustainable use, especially for PVTGs and vulnerable forest communities.