The Forest Rights Act

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, was passed on December 15, 2006, in the Lok Sabha and December 18, 2006, in the Rajya Sabha. It was signed by the President on December 29, 2006, but only notified into force on December 31, 2007 (one year later). The Rules to the Act - which provide for some of the operational details - were notified into force on January 1, 2008.

Prior to being passed, the original Bill was subjected to a lengthy process of examination by a Joint Parliamentary Committee. The Committee's historic report marked a huge step forward for the struggle for forest rights.

Finally, the Act was preceded by several orders of the Enviroment Ministry intended to address issues of rights (primarily land rights). These orders were barely implemented. Copies of some of the orders can be found in the attachments below.

Campaign press statements

NB:This is only a selection; for a full set of Campaign statements, many of which relate to the passage of the Act, please see "Statements" on the left; please also note that pre-2007 statements are not yet online

• Campaign Welcomes Notification of Forest Rights Act, Condemns Government's Efforts to Undermine Democratic Institutions in Rules
• Tribal Minister's Announcement: A Step Forward, No Less, No More
• Protests Continue Across India, Pressure Builds from Movements, Parties and State Governments Demanding the Forest Rights Act
• Forest Rights Act Being Stalled Internally; Struggle, Sabotage Continue