Fresh eviction notices to Himachal's forest-dwelling Dalits "despite" Rahul Gandhi assurance to implement FRA

By A Representative
Despite assurance by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi that the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 would be implemented in Himachal Pradesh, a state governed by his party, latest incidents suggest that the state government is going ahead withwith fresh eviction notices to forest dwellers, allegedly in violation of FRA.
A top civil rights organization, Himalaya Niti Andolan's (HNA's) Guman Singh, in a strongly-worded letter to the sub-divisional magistrate, Banjar, District Kullu, responsible for implementing FRA, has asked him to urgently stop eviction six scheduled caste (SC) families, who have been served notice of eviction by the district forest officer (DFO), Banjar.
Pointing out that these persons have less than 5 bigha of occupation, the letter says, they have even their houses on forest land, for which applied for regularization in year 2002.
Those who have have given notices are Krishan Kumar of village Buhara; Balk Ram of village Shahil; Bhakat Ram S/O Shri Kadshu Ram of village Dehuri; Dola Ram of village Dehuri; Inder Kumar of village Seri Alehda; and Rup Chand of village Bhadech.
Singh says, the notices have been given “under the garb of a Himachal Pradesh High Court order”, adding, these are fresh notices following huge number of them belongs SC having been already “evicted or \ordered to evict them from forest land without following the procedure of verification and recognition of rights under FRA.”
“All these all SC families are having very small land holding with them and have constructed their residential houses, cow shed and toilet for the last 30 years on forest land and have been cultivating small patches of forest land for their livelihood needs”, the letter says.
“More than 1.65 lakh applications for regularization were submitted to different tehsil offices of Himachal Pradesh, but not even single patta has been granted”, Singh alleges, adding, “The forest and revenue departments registered cases of encroachment against them under the HP Public Premises & Land (Eviction & Rent Recovery) Act, 1971 and section 163 of HP Land Revenue Act 1954.”
Calling these evictions “illegal” the letter says, they cannot take place “till verification and recognition of forest rights under FRA, 2006, which “provides right to occupy forest land for residential house and self-cultivation to schedule tribe and other traditional forest dwellers if occupation is prior to 13 December 13, 2005.”
According to Singh, “Eviction of forest dwellers are in direct contravention to protection provisions under FRA, 2006 Section 4(5), which says, “No member of a forest dwelling scheduled tribe or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is completed.”
The evictions are taking despite Union ministry of tribal affairs issuing the clarification to Himachal Pradesh on dated December 14, 2015, “categorically explaining that recorded rights in settlement record needs to be recorded and recognized under FRA”, Singh says.
Singh observes, “Farmers of Himachal Pradesh are living here for the last three generations and are traditionally dependent on forests land and forest products, hence rightfully come under the definition of forest dwellers. The eviction proceedings intentionally initiated by the forest department/authorities is illegal and has hampered the implementation of FRA.”

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

Beyond sattvik: Purity, caste and the politics of the Indian kitchen

By Rajiv Shah A few week ago, I was forwarded an article that appeared in the British weekly The Economist . Titled “Caste and cuisine: From honeycomb curry to blood fry: India’s ‘untouchable’ cooking”, it took me back to what I had blogged about what was called a “ sattvik food festival”, an annual event organised by former Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta.

Search This Blog