Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT
For the whole country (excluding the five north-eastern states and J&K), only in 3
percent of the potential area have CFR rights been granted in the 10 years between
2006 and 2016 (ibid.).
At the Centre, the nodal agency for FRA, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, is
understaffed and has various responsibilities other than overseeing the
implementation of the Act. It has organized training programmes and
consultations for state officials, brought to the notice of states violations or poor
or non-implementation of FRA, and issued guidelines and directives for effective
implementation from time to time. The statutory SLMCs for FRA are nonfunctional
in most states. SLMCs do not meet quarterly as required by the law.
The Act requires SLMCs to address petitions and complaints filed by Gram Sabhas
and forest rights holders. However, most of the petitions filed to SLMCs remain
unaddressed. The state tribal welfare departments (nodal agencies at the state
level) have not been provided the human and financial resources to implement
FRA (ibid.).
Formation of DLCs and SDLCs has been delayed in several states. In many cases, the
composition of DLCs/SDLCs violates the statutory requirement. Meetings of DLCs/
SDLCs are not regular. The legal authority of the Gram Sabha for determining the
nature and extent of rights, and governance of forests is often seriously undermined.
In many states, Gram Sabhas are being organized at the panchayat level, although
FRA mandates village/hamlet level gram sabhas. There is lack of awareness and
capacity building of the Gram Sabha and FRCs on FRA (ibid.).
The reasons for poor progress in the implementation of CF and CFR rights include:
(i) the widespread portrayal of the FRA as legislation for individual rights over
land, as distinct from usufruct rights and other forms of rights; (ii) inadequate
information collection and follow-up at higher levels in the government on
CF and CFR rights; (iii) confusion at the field level on the distinction between
claims for development facilities and claims on forest resources; (iv) lack of
baseline information on the existence of rights, and existence of customary
practices relating to management, use and protection; (v) lack of clarity among
504 Annexures