States asked to map forests, create atlas for FRA implementation: Centre

The Centre has asked state governments to map potential forest areas and create an atlas to help speed up the processing of pending claims under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and find gaps in implementation. 

Considered a milestone in redressing the historical injustice done to Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, the Forest Rights Act 2006 aims to recognise rights of such communities living in forests for generations. 

Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durga Das Uikey said: "The ministry has asked state governments to map potential forest areas and create an FRA Atlas which will enable efficient identification of eligible villages, faster processing of all the pending claims, identification of implementation gaps, support for decision-making and improved transparency and accountability etc." Uikey said his ministry has provided guidelines to states on how to prepare the FRA Atlas. 

On November 15 last year, during Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh launched their FRA atlas to help speed up the process of granting rights, he said. 

The minister also informed that a total of 25,03,453 titles have been distributed so far since the implementation of the FRA began, while 7,45,649 claims are pending.