Over 150 groups ask Tribal Affairs Ministry to withdraw guidelines 'undermining' Gram Sabha powers

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) More than 150 tribal rights groups and civil society networks have written to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs demanding immediate withdrawal of recent guidelines and advisories, which they claimed undermine the authority of gram sabhas under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.

In a joint representation dated August 21, the signatories claimed that interventions by the ministry were "subverting the democratic framework of governance, management and conservation of community forest resources as recognised and established under the Forest Rights Act, 2006".

They alleged the measures promoted a "parallel institutional structure for community forest resource management" that replaced gram sabha-led governance with a "techno-bureaucratisation scheme that consolidates powers in the hands of the forest department and environment ministry".

The groups objected in particular to the "Guidelines for Conservation, Management and Sustainable Use of Community Forest Resources" issued on September 12, 2023.

According to them, these replaced the 2015 guidelines, which had explicitly recognised the gram sabha's authority. The 2015 directions had empowered gram sabhas to "freely and autonomously develop, decide and implement the plan" for community forest resources.

In contrast, the 2023 guidelines, they claimed, "contravene this core idea by undermining the institutional authority of gram sabha and its democratic governance framework".

Among the concerns listed were provisions asking gram sabha meetings to be convened by the panchayat secretary, mandating coordination of the CFR management committee with the forest department, creating a separate district-level CFR monitoring committee and authorising officials to issue letters for opening bank accounts of gram sabhas.

"The CFR management is reduced to a scheme under the oversight of the bureaucracy rather than the bureaucracy functioning under the oversight of the institution of democracy, in this case, the gram sabha," the submission read.

The organisations also opposed the joint advisory issued on March 14, 2024, by the tribal ministry and the environment ministry.

The advisory, they claimed, reproduced the 2023 guidelines and proposed "model scientific CFR management plans, in consonance with the Working Plan Code 2023" to be developed with the forest department's support.

The representation said this "vests overarching powers in the forest department in the matters of community forest resource management and conservation" and even recommended incorporating forest officers into the CFR management committees, which, under the FRA, are supposed to be statutory bodies created solely by gram sabhas.

According to the signatories, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) became the nodal ministry for FRA implementation after the 2006 amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business Rules), 1961, and it alone has the authority to issue directions and clarifications under the law.

"By declaring and adopting the principle of joint responsibility on matters of FRA, MoTA, in effect, abdicated its responsibility in violation of the law," the joint representation claimed.

It also claimed the environment ministry and state forest departments "have proactively violated forest laws regarding recognising forest rights when notifying forests and protected areas and also diverting forests for non-forest purposes, which alone necessitated the enactment of the FRA to address this long-standing historic injustice".

The submission alleged that MoTA was now allowing the environment ministry to encroach upon its statutory mandate.

Citing an example, the groups pointed to a letter issued by the Chhattisgarh forest department on May 15, claiming itself to be the nodal agency for implementation of community forest resource rights, citing the 2024 joint advisory.

The order, later stayed after protests, had said no plan other than the environment ministry-sanctioned working plan could be implemented in forest areas.

The groups said this episode showed how "these CFR guidelines and joint advisories have further generated conflicts on the ground and emboldened the forest department to obstruct implementation of FRA and impinge upon the authority of a gram sabha".

The representation further opposed the inclusion of FRA activities under the PM-JU GUA mission launched in September 2024, claiming that it turned FRA into "a beneficiary scheme".

The entire mission, they said, "has transformed the Forest Rights Act into a techno-managerial and bureaucratic exercise where the powers of gram sabhas have been circumvented by creation of parallel institutional structures".

Calling MoTA's actions "irresponsible, injudicious and disappointing", the groups demanded that the ministry immediately withdraw the September 2023 CFR guidelines and the March 2024 joint advisory, and reinstate the 2015 guidelines, which upheld gram sabha authority.

They asked the ministry to assert its nodal powers under the FRA, direct states that any clarifications on forest rights must come only from MoTA and ensure the environment ministry and its institutions are held accountable for violations.

The groups also sought directions to all state governments and authorities concerned to recognise a gram sabha as "the statutory authority under the Forest Rights Act and the authority for governance, management and conservation of community forest resource right areas".

The submission has been endorsed by 151 organisations and individuals, including the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch, All India Forum of Forest Movements, Gondwana Ganatantra Party, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Himdhara Collective and actor and documentary filmmaker Suhasini Mulay. PTI GVS NSD NSD