The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry clarified in Parliament that no forest dwellers are being displaced under the Forest Rights Act. With over 5.1 million claims filed nationwide, the government highlighted progress, compliance, and strong safeguards against forced eviction from forest land.
The Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram today laid a statement on the table of the house in Lok Sabha that Section 3 (1) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act” (in short, FRA) enacted in 2006 provides vesting of forest rights including right to hold and live in the forest land under individual or common occupation for habitation or for self-cultivation for livelihood by a member or members of forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dweller as defined in Section 2 (c) and 2 (o).
Section 4 (5) of FRA states that “Save as otherwise provided, no member of a Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribe or Other Traditional Forest Dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete”. Further, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 provides for provisions for resettlement of forest rights holders subject to satisfying certain conditions outlined in Section 4, sub-section (2) of the said Act.
No reports have been received from the State Governments regarding pending applicants being displaced. As reported by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), there are no persons who have been displaced from core/critical tiger habitats of tiger reserves, and free and informed prior consent of the people is taken and due diligence is exercised by the States in harmony with the voluntarism enshrined in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 read with the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
As reported by the State Government of Madhya Pradesh, in Dewas district, there are a total of 9238 claims (Individual- 8762 and Community- 476) have been received, out of which a total of 4869 (52.70%) titles were distributed, 4368 (47.28%) claims have been rejected, and 1 claim is pending. Therefore, 99.98% claims are disposed of in Dewas District of Madhya Pradesh.
As reported by States/UTs, cumulatively till 31st October 2025, a total of 51,57,332 claims have been filed at Gram Sabha Level, comprising 49,44,101 individual and 2,13,231 community claims. Out of which a total of 25,14,774 (48.76%) titles were distributed, comprising 23,92,545 individual and 1,22,229 community titles. A total of 18,73,738 (36.33%) have been rejected and a total of 7,68,820 claims are pending for decision. State-wise details are at Annexure.
No applications have been received in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs under FRA for the Tiger Project, ecotourism in the forest areas, and in other project areas. Further ,the said information is not collated at the level of the Government of India as relevant provisions clearly prescribe a State-level Monitoring Committee and a District-level Implementing Committee to oversee the process of monitoring and implementing the voluntary resettlement process.
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