Tribal land distribution: 14 states perform better than Gujarat, govt "takes back" 1081 plots from community owners

By A Representative
Information released by the Government of India's Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has suggested that, as on November 30, 2017, as many as 84,694 tribals and other forest dwellers have received the "right" to cultivate forest land under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, out of total claims 1,90,056, which comes to 44.56% of disposal of pleas put forward by the state's tribal farmers.
The data, released by Eklavya Sangathan, a Gujarat-based tribal rights organization, at a media conference in Ahmedabad, suggest that, out of 20 states for which MoTA has released data, as many as 14 states have performed better that Gujarat. These are Andhra Pradesh 83.21%, Bihar 54.04%, Chhattisgarh 97.74%, , Jharkhand 81.78%, Karnataka 60.63%, Kerala 86.55%, Madhya Pradesh 99.28%, Maharashtra 94.55%, Odisha 91.62%, Rajasthan 96.90%, Telangana 94.77%, Tripura 96.14%, Uttar Pradesh 99.85%, and West Bengal 99.94% (click HERE for details).
While the all-India average of percentage of disposal of land rights is 87.39%, which is almost double that of Gujarat, Ekalavya's Paulomee Mistry told mediapersons, "Of the 84,694 claims said to have been settled by the Gujarat government, as many as 34,000 tribals and other forest dwellers received the right to cultivate the forest land before 2001, when Narendra Modi came to power in the state."
"Ever since", said Mistry, "Those who have been given the right to cultivate the forest land have not been offered land titles. All that about 40,000-odd tribals and other forest dwellers have received since 2001 is a piece of paper of right to cultivate, which even the State Forest Department officials say has no legal value. These include those distributed by Modi ahead of successive elections in Gujarat."

Showing these "right to cultivate" papers, economist Hemant Shah, also present at the media meet, said, "I have scanned through a few of them. I was shocked to find that these papers have not been signed by the signing authorities. One of them, for instance, I found, was signed by a medical officer!" He called the implementation of FRA, 2006 "very pathetic", adding, "The state government has behaved irresponsibly and with high-handedness and arbitrariness."
According to Mistry, of the 84,694 rights to cultivation, according to the MoTA data, 3,516 are community rights, while others are individual rights. "What is interesting is", Mistry said, "On January 11, 2016, MoTA had said, as many as 7,224 community claims had been filed, and of these 4,597 claims were approved. However, the data of November 30, 2017 give a different figure -- 3,516 community claims approved."
"There is reason to believe, therefore, that the Gujarat government has revoked 1,081 community claims. These community claims, apparently, were not allowed because the Forest Department did not want to part with its control over forest land. Under the law, if the community claim is approved, all the land of the village would be declared as community property, and the ownership of other resources in the village would also be community property."
Details provided by Mistry further suggest that tribal farmers have, in all, been given the right to cultivate over 1,27,068.32 acres of land. This comes to 1.57 acres per forest land cultivator. "Actually, under FRA, 2006, tribal farmers are entitled to up to 10 acres of land if they were found to have cultivated 10 acres of land. However, it seems, in several cases one tenth of the land has been allocated", she said.

Comments

Trupti said…

This is outrageous and totally wrong. These are disposal rates, most of them are rejected, while Gujarat has kept them pending for review.

March 28, 2018

Uma said…

Gujarat's "shine" is wearing off , if it was ever real.

March 30, 2018

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

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.

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress.

The ultimate all-time ODI XI: A personal selection of icons across eras

By Harsh Thakor* This is my all-time best XI chosen for ODI (One Day International) cricket: 1. Adam Gilchrist (W) – The absolute master blaster who could create the impact of exploding gunpowder with his electrifying strokeplay. No batsman was more intimidating in his era. Often his knocks decided the fate of games as though the result were premeditated. He escalated batting strike rates to surreal realms.

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.

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.

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians.

Search This Blog