Thousands of titles of forest rights distributed in at least three districts in Chhattisgarh have disappeared from the records of the Ministry of State Social Welfare in various points in the last 17 months, according to documents that the Hindu law accepted.
State government officials claimed that earlier, higher data were defective because of “incorrect communication and error in reporting” that has now been corrected.
For example, in the Bastar district, according to data, the total number of titles of individual forest rights (IFR) was from January 2024, which fell to 35 180 to May 2025. In the Rajnandgaon district, the total number of Forest Resources (CFRR) was decreased within the month of last year, from 40 to 20. 2024; The following month it decreased to 297.
‘Incorrect communication’
These reductions can be observed in state district monthly reports on the course of FRA, sought under RTI. Publicly available progress reports of FRA centers record only data only at the state level. Some FRA scientists have described such a decline as “anomalies”, because under the Forest Act, there is no 2006 process for selecting titles that were awarded.
The law recognizes and advocates the rights to use forests for the planned trunk and other communities living in the forest. It allows individuals and communities to obtain different types of titles over the forest areas they live, use products for their livelihoods or to collect products. The names are distributed after each application is clarified by a gram of Sabhas, committees at sub-diameter level and committees at the district level.
According to FRA, as soon as the titles are awarded, they are not transferable or alienated, but can only be inherited. The law provides for a diversion in specific cases where community facilities or government projects are planned, but only with the consent of the grams concerned.
ALOK SHUKLA activist from Hasdeo Aranya Bachao Andolan said that, despite this, the state government “canceled” in 2016 and the High Court in Chhattisgarh must decide whether it is permissible.
The answer to questions about the decline in forest rights in some districts argued that an official for the government government claimed that it was because of “incorrect communication” among officials working at the Gram Sabha level, sub-divisional and district levels that led to the need for “correction” of records. “It can be considered a report error,” the clerk said.
The data provided in response to the RTI question from Hindu showed that since May 2025 a total of 4.82 Lakh IFR titles and 4,396 CFRR titles were distributed in 30 districts of the state where the law is carried out. Civil servants stated that FRA is not implemented in the districts of Raipur, Durg and Bemetara. Data on the Central Government on FRA show that since May 2025, CHHhattisgarh has been more than 43% of the forest area over which FRA titles have been awarded.
Slow progress in naxal areas
In the three districts announced by the Ministry of the Union’s internal affairs without naxalism in the last year, the FRA implementation was slow, showing these data. In Bastar there was a decline by more than 2,700 in the number of IFR titles, although another 12 CFFR titles were added between January 2024 and May 2025. There was no increase in CFRR titles in Dantewad, while 55 IFR titles occurred. In the district, no new IFR titles were distributed, while two CFFR titles were added in the same period of time.
In the Bastar district, IFR demands also dropped by almost 3,000 to May 2025, out of 51,303 claims filed since January 2024.
Soon after taking power in December 2024, the Chief Minister Chhattisgarh Vishnu deo Sai told the Hindes that he was focusing on renting their rights, and state government officials point out that support for naxalism decreases.
Kabirdham, Rajnandgaon, Gariyabandh, Balod, and Balrampur Were Some of the Other Districts that Featured in the List of Those Most-Affected by Left Wing Extremism Till 2019. GARIYABANDH DISTRICT SAW an Addition of Just Six Cfr Titles, and Balrampur and Balod Districts Together Saw An Adlation of 18 titles IFR and three CFRR titles.
The highest number of titles distributed in the former LWE district over the last 17 months was a condagaon that recorded 1,273 IFR titles and five CFRR titles in this period.
Bad records of records
One FRA expert, who worked with more state governments on implementation, called a reduction in the cumulative numbers of titles distributed “anomaly”. The expert added that there have also been cases where the state government was found and registered by the FRA for gram Sabhas, which did not even ask for it.
Other experts also noted that there is a long history of poor records with regard to FRA implementation. This was also recognized by the Ministry of the Union. Through his Dharti Aba Janjatiya gram Utkarsh Abhiyaan (2024), the Ministry facilitates the establishment of more than 300 FRA cells in any state to help organize and digitize all FRA records.
Published – 14 August 2025 12:18
