Under the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition Forest Rights) Act, 2006, who shall be the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights or both?

Under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA), the Gram Sabha is the designated authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights. According to Section 6(1) of the Act, the Gram Sabha receives claims, consolidates them, and prepares a map delineating the area of each claim. This process is central to the Act's objective of providing restitution for deprived forest rights and integrating conservation with livelihood rights [1]. While the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) serves as the nodal agency for implementation [2], the actual initiation of the recognition and verification procedure begins at the grassroots level with the Gram Sabha. Subsequent levels of scrutiny are conducted by the Sub-Divisional Level Committee and the District Level Committee, but the primary power to commence the determination process rests solely with the Gram Sabha.

Sources

1. [1] Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 10: Indian Forest > ro.3.2. The Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest llwellers (Recognition ofForest Rights) Act, 2006 > p. 165
2. [2] Environment, Shankar IAS Acedemy .(ed 10th) > Chapter 10: Indian Forest > Salient Features > p. 166