by Masood Hussain
JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir government revealed that the majority of the claims made by people under the Forests Rights Act (FRA) have been rejected and only 6020 titles have been issued across 20 districts. The total forest land involved was put at 3312 hectares (one hectare is 19.7684 kanals).
While discussing the grants for the forests and tribal affairs ministry, the government said it has accepted 430 of the 22720 claims made by Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) in individual capacity and all the 10198 claims made by Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD). The total land distributed in claims made in individual capacity was 84.1576 hectares.
FRA has the provision of claiming rights in an individual capacity and at the community level. The government said 8754 claims were made by FDST and 529 claims by OTFD. It has accepted 4277 claims by FDST and given 3189.13 hectares of forest land and another 39.67 hectares in 96 accepted community claims by OTFD.
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, commonly known as the Forest Rights Act (FRA), became applicable in 2019. Claims under the Act are received and scrutinised at the Gram Sabha level, with resolutions subsequently examined by the Sub-Divisional Level Committee, headed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate or Additional Deputy Commissioner. The final decision on claims rests with the District Level Committee, led by the Deputy Commissioner, the government said in its response to various queries that lawmakers made.
According to data tabled in the House, a total of 46,090 claims have been received so far. Of these, 6,058 have been approved, 39,906 rejected, and 126 remain pending. The majority of rejections—35,924—occurred at the Gram Sabha level, primarily due to claimants’ inability to provide the necessary evidence and documentation. Besides, 3,982 claims were rejected at the Sub-Divisional and District Level Committees.
The Act, the government asserted along with its associated rules and guidelines, outlines a clear procedure for recognising claims. Committees at various levels—Gram Sabha, Sub-Divisional Level Committee, and District Level Committee—process applications based on prescribed norms. Claims failing to meet the required criteria are not considered. However, the Act provides an appeal mechanism, with the final appeal resting with the District Level Committee.
Of the 6,020 forest land titles issued to Scheduled Tribes (STs), the majority—5,195—were granted in ten districts of the Jammu region, while 825 titles were allocated to Gujjars and Bakerwals across ten districts in the Kashmir valley.
Notably, no forest land was allotted to the ST community in the Srinagar district, and only a single title was issued to an ST family in Baramulla. According to the data, just five land titles each were granted in Ganderbal and Udhampur, while Kulgam saw the issuance of seven titles.
Rajouri district recorded the highest number of land titles at 2,852, followed by Poonch with 1,902.
In the same session, the government released a lot of data about the forest ministry evictions from the forests of Jammu and Kashmir. Since 2022-23, the government said it restored 594.74 hectares of forest land from encroachment by evicting the encroachers in 10 Kashmir districts. Still, it said 5868.65 hectares are still encroached upon.
In the Jammu region, the forest department has restored 224.24 hectares in the last three years and the overall encroachment was put at a forest land of 13618.52 hectares.
As minister Javed Rana was responding to a day-long debate, the BJP reacted quite ferociously indicating as if it was unhappy over the FRA implementation in the erstwhile state.
A heated exchange broke out between the treasury benches (National Conference) and the opposition (Bharatiya Janata Party) benches. The confrontation began when Minister Rana, speaking on the Forest Rights Act, assured that Tribals, including Gujjars and Bakerwals, had no reason to fear, as they could continue residing on forest lands they had occupied for over six decades in Jammu and Kashmir. He asserted that the FRA which was drafted by the Parliament will be implemented in letter and spirit and people who have “sun as their roof” and “land as their floor” will be rehabilitated under the law.
His remarks prompted a strong objection from senior BJP leader and former Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma, who accused Rana of misleading the House. Sharma asserted, “Jammu and Kashmir is not anyone’s fiefdom. The Act has been misrepresented. While Parliament has granted forest rights to Tribals, they apply only to landless individuals, not those already possessing thousands of kanals of land.”
Sharma demanded that the Minister retract his statement, leading to a heated confrontation between him and Rana. The situation escalated as NC legislators rallied behind their Minister, clashing with BJP members including RS Pathania, Pawan Gupta, Balwant Singh Mankotia, Arvind Gupta, and RS Jasrotia. The NC members accused the BJP of being anti-Tribal and opposing the benefits of the FRA for marginalised communities. Both sides hurled accusations at each other, while Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather struggled to restore order for nearly 12 minutes.
Amidst the chaos, AIP legislator Sheikh Khurshid charged towards the well of the House, shouting at BJP members, but Marshals intervened to escort him back to his seat. Eventually, the Speaker allowed BJP leaders Sham Lal Sharma and Balwant Singh Mankotia to present their arguments, while Minister Rana reiterated the intent behind the Act, as passed by Parliament. Order was finally restored after CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami intervened to pacify the House.
After the house concluded for the day, the two party leaders engaged in verbal duels, taking recourse to the media. “For all these years, they have been portraying the BJP as pro-ST and SC,” JKNC leader Tanvir Sadiq said. “Now, they are opposing the implementation of a law that they have extended to Jammu and Kashmir and was legislated by the Lok Sabha.”
