SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has received 46,090 claims under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, but only 6,020 titles had been distributed as of June 30, 2026, according to data placed before the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
The figures show that 39,924 claims remained pending in the Union Territory, while 6,020 claims had been approved and titles distributed. A total of 33,233 Individual Forest Rights (IFR) claims and 12,857 community claims, including Community Forest Rights (CFR) and Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR), had been filed in JK.
Of the titles distributed, 429 related to individual rights and 5,591 to community rights, indicating that the bulk of recognised claims in JK were in the community category.
The data was provided by Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey in response to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha regarding the status of forest rights claims.
At the national level, 54,01,561 claims had been received across 20 States and one Union Territory up to June 30, 2026. Of these, 25,42,359 claims had resulted in titles being distributed, while 18,13,232 claims had been rejected and 10,45,970 remained pending.
The Ministry said the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, rests with State Governments and Union Territory administrations. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs compiles Monthly Progress Reports received from the States and UTs.
The Ministry also clarified that community-wise and district-wise segregated data on forest rights claims is not maintained by it. Consequently, district-level details of pending Individual Forest Rights and Community Forest Resource Rights claims, as sought in the question, were not provided.
JK’s pending claims account for a substantial portion of the total claims filed in the UT, with the data indicating that more than 86 per cent of all claims received had not resulted in title distribution by June 30, 2026.
The Forest Rights Act provides for recognition of the rights of forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers over forest land and resources, subject to the provisions of the law.
