Tribal Rights over Forest Resources

The tribal people in India have been provided with the legal right to access the village forests which are under the authority of the Gram Sabha and the forest lands controlled by the State Revenue Department and the Forest Department. Due to the lack of conventional rights, many indigenous and tribal communities were forced to be dispossessed of their right to access the forests due to the acts of degradation, diversion for commercial purposes and occupation by industrial organisations. The current study explores how and to what extent tribal rights are protected by the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, introduced by the Government of India. But the data shows that despite the enactment of the FRA which aimed to protect the tribals, the encroachment area in all the states has decreased, except Madhya Pradesh which showed a slight increase for the same after 2012. The likelihood of a legal judgement in favour of tribal rights over forest rights appears favourable. The encroachment area, number of tribal dominant districts, percentage of forest cover area and percentage of forest product earning significantly influence the legal verdicts in favour of tribal rights. The results are intriguing in formulating policies for protecting tribal rights and forest areas simultaneously.