Jharkhand has been able to make a slow but steady start regarding the implementation of an 18-year-old Forest Rights Act (2006) during the year-long Abua Bir Abua Dishom (our forest our country) campaign despite several bottlenecks.

“Jharkhand has over 30 per cent area under forest but has been amongst the worst performing states in terms of implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) forcing the chief minister Hemant Soren to start the Abua Bir Abua Dishom campaign in November last year. The progress has been not up to the mark due to several shortcomings but still, we have managed to generate 448 individual forest rights (IFR) and 399 community forest rights (CFR),” said an official of the PHIA Foundation, one of the technical partners helping the state government in the implementation of the campaign.

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (commonly referred to as the Forest Rights Act) provides for recognition of the rights to “protect, regenerate or conserve or manage” the community forest resource.

These rights allow the community to formulate rules for forest use by itself and others and thereby discharge its responsibilities under Section 5 of the Forest Rights Act.

The state FRA cell, constituted last year under the state welfare department and led by Partnering Hope into Action (PHIA) Foundation along with a few other civil society organisations, has organised training and capacity building of welfare, forest and revenue department officials, reconstituted district level committees (DLC), sub-divisional level committees (SDLC) and forest right committees (FRC at panchayat level) and has a dedicated mobile application (JharFRA) and website on forest rights to streamline FRA implementation process.

“There are shortcomings in terms of weak planning and coordination between three government departments (welfare, forest and revenue) which is essential for the success of the campaign. There should be more frequent reviews on the progress of the campaign. This apart, limited understanding among government officials both at district and gram sabha level is also affecting the success of the campaign,” said the official.

Jharkhand welfare secretary, who is also tribal welfare commissioner, Ajay Nath Jha, however sounded optimistic.

“There have been shortcomings and then there was implementation of the model code of conduct due to the parliamentary polls and thereafter due to Assembly polls. However, still, we are making steady progress in granting forest rights to the entitled forest dwellers,” said Jha.

The tribal welfare commissioner has also written a letter to all the deputy commissioners recently for effective implementation of the Act.

The letter calls upon the administrative officials to move beyond the status quo and go to the communities, raise awareness about the Act and actively assist in the claim preparation process.