SRINAGAR: The government has disclosed that a large majority of forest rights claims filed under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 in Jammu and Kashmir have been rejected, with official figures showing 39,898 claims turned down against 6,097 accepted across districts.
Data tabled in the Assembly by the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment reveals stark district-wise variations, with rejection numbers significantly outpacing approvals in several regions, particularly in the Jammu division and parts of Kashmir.
Among the worst-affected districts, Rajouri district recorded the highest number of rejections at 13,590, despite 2,852 claims being accepted. Kupwara district saw 5,903 rejections against just 15 approvals, while Budgam district reported 3,884 rejected claims compared to 181 accepted. Similarly, Anantnag district registered 3,286 rejections against 246 approvals.
In the Jammu region, Doda district recorded 1,744 rejections, Ramban district 1,276, and Kathua district 1,518. Poonch district saw 2,956 claims rejected even as 2,054 were approved. In contrast, Jammu district reported 44 acceptances and no rejections, while Srinagar district recorded no claims at all.
The Forest Rights Act seeks to recognise land and livelihood rights of Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who depend on forests for habitation and subsistence. However, the figures suggest that a substantial number of applications have failed scrutiny at various administrative levels.
In a related disclosure, the Jammu and Kashmir Tribal Affairs Department has now been designated as the nodal authority for implementation of the Act, replacing the Forest Department. The shift was formalised through a government order issued by the General Administration Department Jammu and Kashmir, placing responsibility for coordination, monitoring and reporting directly with the Tribal Affairs Department.
Under the revised framework, a Union Territory-level monitoring committee headed by the Chief Secretary, along with district and sub-divisional committees led by Deputy Commissioners and revenue officers, will oversee claim verification and disposal. The department has begun collecting records and plans to process pending applications in a time-bound manner, giving priority to both individual and community forest rights, including Community Forest Resource Rights.
Officials said all records will be digitised to improve transparency and accountability, enabling faster verification, identification of bottlenecks and adherence to prescribed timelines at the Gram Sabha and district levels.
The government expressed hope that the administrative restructuring and tighter monitoring would speed up decisions and ensure rightful recognition of claims, particularly for tribal and forest-dwelling communities that have long awaited formal title and access rights.
A separate break-up of approved claims shows that most recognitions have come under community forest rights rather than individual titles. Of the 6,097 approvals, only 350 relate to individual forest rights, while 5,747 fall under community forest rights. Districts such as Rajouri, Poonch and Kishtwar district account for a significant share of these community-based recognitions.
