Centre Reviews Forest Rights Act Rollout with Five Southern States in Bengaluru

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs convened the first Regional Review Conference on the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, in Bengaluru, drawing together senior officials from the tribal welfare, revenue and forest departments of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

The conference opened with a welcome address by the Secretary of Karnataka's Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department, followed by a performance by tribal artists from the state. In the keynote session, a Joint Secretary of the Ministry said that as of 30 June 2026, more than 54 lakh Individual Forest Rights claims had been received nationally, with roughly 25.42 lakh titles distributed across nearly 238 lakh acres. Over 10 lakh claims remain pending, while 19,845 Community Forest Rights have been recognised.

Southern states were urged to prioritise time-bound disposal of pending claims, recognition of Community Forest Resource Rights and Habitat Rights of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, and the incorporation of recognised rights into land records.

In her special address, the Secretary of the Ministry stressed that recognition of rights must translate into tenure security and sustainable livelihoods, with convergence across development schemes. She called for greater attention to Community Forest Rights and Community Forest Resource Rights, noting their potential to strengthen Gram Sabha-led forest governance and community-based livelihoods. She referred to a recent joint advisory issued by the Ministry and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change that enables Community Forest Resource Management Plans to be integrated with Forest Department working and management plans. Habitat rights of PVTGs, she said, embody living systems of culture, livelihood and traditional knowledge and should be recognised with sensitivity and active community participation.

The Director (FRA) presented the national picture with a focus on southern states, covering pendency, Records of Rights, habitat rights and community forest resource rights. A Deputy Secretary then made the case for digitising FRA records and introduced a National-level FRA Portal under development, asking states to use it and integrate existing records through an Application Programming Interface.

State representatives then detailed their progress. Karnataka has received 2,95,176 applications, distributed 16,700 titles and has 15,553 claims under verification; delays in constituting Taluk and Zilla Panchayats have affected the functioning of Sub-Divisional and District Level Committees, while re-verification of rejected claims through 'Mahajaru' committees is under way and beneficiary data is being linked to the FRUITS and Bhoomi platforms.

Tamil Nadu has digitised 15,838 titles issued in Phase-I, with 41,692 fresh claims received under Phase-II under verification, supported by a state-wide FRA Atlas, dedicated District FRA Cells and structured capacity-building of Forest Rights Committees.

Andhra Pradesh reported 2,27,300 individual and 1,225 community titles distributed against 2,90,874 claims received as on 31 August 2026, with an integrated land-record and welfare-delivery model linking the Giribhumi FRA portal to the state's revenue and banking systems.

Telangana has distributed 2,30,735 individual and 102 community titles against 6,55,249 claims received, backed by a fully digitised Online RoFR Title Granting System integrated with the BhuBharathi revenue portal, which received the SKOCH Award of Excellence (Gold, 2024).

Kerala has recognised 29,545 individual and 286 community titles, with 1,616 individual and 108 community claims pending mainly due to survey and verification processes, and six forest villages converted into revenue villages.

The Ministry asked the southern states to ensure time-bound disposal and reconciliation of pending and rejected claims, accelerate recognition of Community Forest Resource Rights and PVTG Habitat Rights, complete incorporation of recognised rights in revenue and forest records, and strengthen convergence with livelihood and welfare schemes. State-specific roadmaps and timelines were worked out by the respective states.