Parliament Question: Disposal of Cases under Forest Rights Act, 2006

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 756 TO BE ANSWERED ON- 23/07/2026 DISPOSAL OF CASES UNDER FOREST RIGHTS ACT, 2006 756. SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE: DR. FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE: Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has maintained any data regarding the number of Scheduled Tribe (ST) individuals and forest-dwelling tribal families claiming rights over forest land under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, if so, the details thereof, State-wise including Scheduled areas of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and other tribal dominated States; (b) the total number of individual and community forest rights claims received, approved, rejected and pending under the said Act during the last five years, State-wise; (c) whether the Government has assessed the reasons for the large number of rejected and pending claims in various States, if so, the details thereof along with the corrective measures taken by the Government; (d) whether the Government has formulated any special action plan to protect the forest rights of tribal communities, empower Gram Sabha and make their rights over minor forest produce and forest resources effective; and (e) the steps taken by the Government, in coordination with the State Governments to ensure time-bound recognition of eligible forest land rights of tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers, including financial and technical assistance provided to the States for effective implementation of the Act? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGA DAS UIKEY) (a): As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (in short FRA) and Rules made thereunder, State Governments and UT Administrations are responsible for implementation of various provisions of the Act while the Ministry of Tribal compiles Monthly Progress Report received from the States/UTs. FRA is being implemented in 20 States and 1 UT. As per the latest informationreported by States and collated under MPR as on 30.06.2026, a total of 54,01,561 claims have been filed by Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDSTs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs), out of which 25,42,359 claims have been approved (titles distributed), 18,13,232 claims have been rejected. The state wise status including details of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and other tribal dominated states (where FRA is being implemented) is at Annexure. (b): As per reports submitted by States/UT, during the last five years period, i.e. from 30.06.2021 to 30.06.2026, a total of 11,36,602 claims have been filed, 5,41,731 Claims have been approved (Titles Distributed), 29,524 claims have been rejected and 5,65,347 claims are pending for decision. Further, the details of number of claims (individual and community) received, the number of claims approved (Title distributed), Claims rejected, Claims disposed off during the last five years, month- wise and State/UT-wise are available at this Ministry’s website- on FRA- MPR- https://tribal.nic.in/FRA.aspx. (c): As per reports submitted by States/UT, as on 30.06.2026 a total of 18,13,232 claims (33.57% of total claims filed) have been rejected. Based on the information received from some of the State Governments, the major reasons for the rejection of claims are - claimed land not occupied before 13th December 2005, duplicate claims filed on the same land, claims on Non-Forest Land, lack of evidence, etc. Further, a total of 10,45,970 claims (19.36% of total claims filed) are pending for decision. It has been observed that the major reasons for pending claims are procedural delays in verification and disposal of claims at the Gram Sabha, Sub-Divisional Level Committee (SDLC) and District Level Committee (DLC) stages. State Government of Karnataka has informed that 88.7% of their pending claims are pending at SDLC level due to lack of public representation in SDLCs. States have been encouraged to fast-track the processing and disposal of pending claims in multiple national level consultation/ meetings/ workshops with States/ UTs, which are held from time to time. (d): Ministry provides financial support to State Governments under the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DA-JGUA) scheme for strengthening Gram Sabhas and Community Forest Resource Management Committees (CFRMCs), including support for constitution and functioning of CFRMCs, preparation and implementation of community- led forest management plans, mapping of potential areas under FRA and support for preparation and execution of CFR Management Plans. (e): The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, being the Nodal Ministry for administering the legislative matters of FRA, exhorts all State Governments to abide by the provisions contained in FRA and ensure that all eligible claimants are provided the rights which are due to them. Further, this Ministry provides financial assistance for the mapping of potential forest area, which can help state nodal departments for prioritizing and planning of FRA implementation.Annexure Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 756 regarding “Disposal of Cases under Forest Rights Act, 2006” to be answered on 23.07.2026. State wise details of claims received, claims approved (Title distributed), Claims rejected, Claims disposed off, as per information received from States/ UT till 30.06.2026: No. of Claims received No. of Titles Distributed Total No. No. of S. upto 30.06.2026 upto 30.06.2026 of Claims States/UT Claims No. Disposed Rejected Individual Community Total Individual Community Total off 1 Andhra 285,115 3,294 288,409 226,667 1,822 228,489 58,395 286,884 Pradesh 2 Assam 208,062 8,582 216,644 84,861 2,575 87,436 16,379 103,815 3 Bihar 4,696 0 4,696 191 0 191 4,496 4,687 4 Chhattisgarh 890,220 57,259 947,479 481,432 52,636 534,068 406,787 940,855 5 Goa 9,978 399 10,377 1,250 20 1,270 1,901 3,171 6 Gujarat 183,055 7,187 190,242 98,732 4,792 103,524 2,331 105,855 7 Himachal 6,100 868 6,968 942 156 1,098 56 1,154 Pradesh 8 Jharkhand 107,032 3,724 110,756 59,866 2,104 61,970 28,107 90,077 9 Karnataka 289,236 5,940 295,176 15,355 1,345 16,700 262,626 279,326 10 Kerala 44,580 1,018 45,598 29,523 284 29,807 13,216 43,023 11 Madhya 766,430 40,975 807,405 260,707 28,754 289,461 244,487 533,948 Pradesh 12 Maharashtra 397,897 11,259 409,156 199,667 8,668 208,335 172,631 380,966 13 Odisha 733,158 36,819 769,977 464,504 9,432 473,936 146,345 620,281 14 Rajasthan 113,162 5,213 118,375 49,215 2,551 51,766 65,921 117,687 15 Tamil Nadu 33,119 1,548 34,667 15,442 1,066 16,508 12,711 29,219 16 Telangana 651,822 3,427 655,249 230,735 721 231,456 94,426 325,882 17 Tripura 201,055 67 201,122 131,615 65 131,680 68,472 200,152 18 Uttar 92,972 1,194 94,166 22,537 893 23,430 70,736 94,166 Pradesh 19 Uttarakhand 3,809 3,119 6,928 83 1 84 6,698 6,782 20 West Bengal 131,962 10,119 142,081 44,444 686 45,130 96,587 141,717 21 Jammu & 33,233 12,857 46,090 429 5,591 6,020 39,924 45,944 Kashmir TOTAL 51,86,693 2,14,868 54,01,561 24,18,197 1,24,162 25,42,359 18,13,232 43,55,591 *****