The Hindu: Chhattisgarh: Thursday, 14Th August
2025.
Community forest rights titles in Rajnandgaon halved from 40 to 20, according to monthly progress reports; Bastar sees individual titles drop by over 2,700, though there is no FRA process to withdraw titles
Thousands of forest rights
titles distributed across at least three districts in Chhattisgarh seem to have
disappeared from the records of the State government’s Tribal Welfare
Department at various points over the last 17 months, according to documents accessed
by The Hindu through the Right to Information Act.
State government officials claimed that the earlier, higher figures were faulty, due to “miscommunication and error in reporting”, which has now been corrected.
In Bastar district, for instance, the total number of individual forest rights (IFR) titles as of January 2024 was 37,958, which fell to 35,180 by May 2025, according to the data. In Rajnandgaon district, similarly, the total number of community forest resource rights (CFRR) titles halved within a month last year, from 40 to 20. In Bijapur district, there were 299 CFRR titles distributed till March 2024; by the following month, this was reduced to 297.
‘Miscommunication’
These reductions can be seen in the State’s district-wise monthly progress reports on the FRA, sought under RTI. The Centre’s publicly available FRA progress reports only record data at the State level. Some FRA researchers and experts have termed such a decrease as an “anomaly”, as there is no process under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 to withdraw titles which have been granted.
The Act recognises and vests rights to use forests to Scheduled Tribe and other forest-dwelling communities. It allows individuals and communities to get various types of titles over forest areas which they live on, use for their livelihoods, or collect produce from. The titles are distributed after each application is cleared by gram sabhas, sub-divisional level committees, and district-level committees.
As per the FRA, once titles are granted, they are neither transferable nor alienable but can only be inherited. The law does provide for diversion in specific cases, where community facilities are being planned or for government projects but only with the consent of the Gram Sabhas concerned.
Activist Alok Shukla of Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Andolan said that despite this, the State government had “cancelled” some in 2016 and the Chhattisgarh High Court is yet to rule on whether this is permissible.
Responding to questions on the decrease in forest rights titles in some districts, a senior State government official claimed this was because of “miscommunication” between officials working at the gram sabha, sub-divisional, and district levels that had resulted in the need for “correction” of the records. “It may be seen as a reporting error,” the official said.
The data, which was provided in response to an RTI query by The Hindu, showed that as of May 2025, a total of 4.82 lakh IFR titles and 4,396 CFRR titles had been distributed across 30 districts of the State where the law is implemented. State officials said that the FRA is not implemented in Raipur, Durg, and Bemetara districts. Central government data on the FRA shows that, as of May 2025, Chhattisgarh accounts for over 43% of the forest area over which FRA titles have been granted.
Slow progress in Naxal areas
In the three districts declared free of Naxalism by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs over the last year, FRA implementation has been slow, this data shows. In Bastar, there was a drop of over 2,700 in the number of IFR titles, though there were 12 more CFRR titles added between January 2024 and May 2025. In Dantewada, there was no increase in CFRR titles, while there was net growth of 55 IFR titles. In the Mohla-Manpur district, no new IFR titles were distributed, while two CFRR titles were added in the same time period.
In Bastar district, IFR claims also dropped by almost 3,000 by May 2025, from the 51,303 claims filed as of January 2024.
Soon after taking power in December 2024, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had told The Hindu that he was focussed on getting forest leaseholders their rights, with State government officials pointing out that support for Naxalism reduces wherever FRA coverage increases, support for Naxalism reduces.
Kabirdham, Rajnandgaon, Gariyabandh, Balod, and Balrampur were some of the other districts that featured in the list of those most-affected by Left Wing Extremism till 2019. From January 2024 to May 2025, Kabirdham saw no increase in IFR or CFRR titles, Gariyabandh district saw an addition of just six CFRR titles, and Balrampur and Balod districts together saw an addition of 18 IFR titles and three CFRR titles.
The highest number of titles distributed in a former LWE-affected district in the last 17 months was Kondagaon, which saw an addition of 1,273 IFR titles and five CFRR titles in this time period.
Poor record-keeping
One FRA expert who has worked with multiple State governments on implementation called the reduction in cumulative figures of titles distributed an “anomaly”. The expert added that there had also been cases where the State government was found to apply and register FRA titles for gram sabhas that had not even applied for it themselves.
Other experts also noted that there is a long history of poor record-keeping with respect to FRA implementation. This has been recognised by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs as well. Through its Dharti Aba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan (2024), the Ministry is facilitating the establishment of over 300 FRA cells in each State that will help organise and digitise all FRA records.
Community forest rights titles in Rajnandgaon halved from 40 to 20, according to monthly progress reports; Bastar sees individual titles drop by over 2,700, though there is no FRA process to withdraw titles
 |
The Forest Rights Act recognises and vests rights to use forests to Scheduled Tribe and other forest-dwelling communities. It allows individuals and communities to get various types of titles over forest areas which they live on, use for their livelihoods, or collect produce from. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu |
State government officials claimed that the earlier, higher figures were faulty, due to “miscommunication and error in reporting”, which has now been corrected.
In Bastar district, for instance, the total number of individual forest rights (IFR) titles as of January 2024 was 37,958, which fell to 35,180 by May 2025, according to the data. In Rajnandgaon district, similarly, the total number of community forest resource rights (CFRR) titles halved within a month last year, from 40 to 20. In Bijapur district, there were 299 CFRR titles distributed till March 2024; by the following month, this was reduced to 297.
These reductions can be seen in the State’s district-wise monthly progress reports on the FRA, sought under RTI. The Centre’s publicly available FRA progress reports only record data at the State level. Some FRA researchers and experts have termed such a decrease as an “anomaly”, as there is no process under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 to withdraw titles which have been granted.
The Act recognises and vests rights to use forests to Scheduled Tribe and other forest-dwelling communities. It allows individuals and communities to get various types of titles over forest areas which they live on, use for their livelihoods, or collect produce from. The titles are distributed after each application is cleared by gram sabhas, sub-divisional level committees, and district-level committees.
As per the FRA, once titles are granted, they are neither transferable nor alienable but can only be inherited. The law does provide for diversion in specific cases, where community facilities are being planned or for government projects but only with the consent of the Gram Sabhas concerned.
Activist Alok Shukla of Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Andolan said that despite this, the State government had “cancelled” some in 2016 and the Chhattisgarh High Court is yet to rule on whether this is permissible.
Responding to questions on the decrease in forest rights titles in some districts, a senior State government official claimed this was because of “miscommunication” between officials working at the gram sabha, sub-divisional, and district levels that had resulted in the need for “correction” of the records. “It may be seen as a reporting error,” the official said.
The data, which was provided in response to an RTI query by The Hindu, showed that as of May 2025, a total of 4.82 lakh IFR titles and 4,396 CFRR titles had been distributed across 30 districts of the State where the law is implemented. State officials said that the FRA is not implemented in Raipur, Durg, and Bemetara districts. Central government data on the FRA shows that, as of May 2025, Chhattisgarh accounts for over 43% of the forest area over which FRA titles have been granted.
Slow progress in Naxal areas
In the three districts declared free of Naxalism by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs over the last year, FRA implementation has been slow, this data shows. In Bastar, there was a drop of over 2,700 in the number of IFR titles, though there were 12 more CFRR titles added between January 2024 and May 2025. In Dantewada, there was no increase in CFRR titles, while there was net growth of 55 IFR titles. In the Mohla-Manpur district, no new IFR titles were distributed, while two CFRR titles were added in the same time period.
In Bastar district, IFR claims also dropped by almost 3,000 by May 2025, from the 51,303 claims filed as of January 2024.
Soon after taking power in December 2024, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai had told The Hindu that he was focussed on getting forest leaseholders their rights, with State government officials pointing out that support for Naxalism reduces wherever FRA coverage increases, support for Naxalism reduces.
Kabirdham, Rajnandgaon, Gariyabandh, Balod, and Balrampur were some of the other districts that featured in the list of those most-affected by Left Wing Extremism till 2019. From January 2024 to May 2025, Kabirdham saw no increase in IFR or CFRR titles, Gariyabandh district saw an addition of just six CFRR titles, and Balrampur and Balod districts together saw an addition of 18 IFR titles and three CFRR titles.
The highest number of titles distributed in a former LWE-affected district in the last 17 months was Kondagaon, which saw an addition of 1,273 IFR titles and five CFRR titles in this time period.
Poor record-keeping
One FRA expert who has worked with multiple State governments on implementation called the reduction in cumulative figures of titles distributed an “anomaly”. The expert added that there had also been cases where the State government was found to apply and register FRA titles for gram sabhas that had not even applied for it themselves.
Other experts also noted that there is a long history of poor record-keeping with respect to FRA implementation. This has been recognised by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs as well. Through its Dharti Aba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan (2024), the Ministry is facilitating the establishment of over 300 FRA cells in each State that will help organise and digitise all FRA records.
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