Question : ST and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act 2006

(a) whether the Government is taking any steps to amend ST and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act 2006for effective implementation and protect forest dwellers;
(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the timeline fixed in this regard along with the details of rule framed under the act in 2008;
(c) the details of the status of implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006, State-wise including of Rajasthan;
(d) whether the Government intends to conduct mapping activities to expedite claims for community rights and if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether the Government currently has or intends to formulate strategies to improve and empower local authorities for the effective implementation of the ForestRights Act 2006 if so, the details thereof; and
(f) the number of applications received in this regard and the action being taken to dispose of such applications including pending application?

(a) to (b): No Sir,There is no proposal to amend the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA in Short).

(c): The implementation of forest rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and recognition of forest rights there under is a continuous activity falling within the purview of the State Governments.

(d): As per rule 6(b) of Forest Rights Rules, the Sub-Divisional Level Committee (SDLC) shall provide forest and revenue maps and electoral rolls to the Gram Sabha or the Forest Rights Committee.

Also, as per rule 8(a) of Forest Rights Rules, the District Level Committee shall ensure that the requisite information under clause (b) of rule 6 has been provided to Gram Sabha or Forest Rights Committee.

Further, Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) issued circular dated 28.04.2021 regarding geo referencing for identification of forest land under the Community Forest Resource Rights and community purposes as also stressing the need for delineation of the potential areas and creation of maps where FRA is likely to be implemented as also ground verification of claims using GPS/Android phone etc. to identify genuine claimants. MoTA also issued guidelines on 27.07.2015 which may be applied for use of technology and geo referencing to expedite the process of FRA implementation.

(e) to (f): Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change have issued a joint advisory in July, 2021 to enable expeditious implementation of FRA.

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