Enviromental & Social Groups Object to Forest Dept’s unilateral intervention in Constitutional Process

As Himachal Pradesh celebrates the formation of Himachal day on 14th April 2025, environmental and social organisations and forest rights activists from the state have shown concern for the consistent delay in protection of tenurial rights of forest dependent communities for their livelihoods and conservation of biodiversity and ecology of the region. The groups have raised serious objections to a letter from the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF) shot off to Divisional Commissioners and other district level officials on the implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006. The letter has come at a time when the State government has shown increased urgency in the implementation of FRA with Tribal Minister Shri Jagat Singh Negi personally holding interactive training sessions with the district officials.

Environmentalists have termed the letter “unnecessary and contrary to the provisions” of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, to delay the implementation of an act whose implementation has already been delayed by 17 years in Himachal whereas it has been robustly implemented in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and others. This delay has put under threat the rightful claims of lakhs of landholders in the state who depend on forest land for their individual and community uses.

The Forest Department in its letter has alleged that recognizing the rights of forest-dependent communities will lead to forest destruction and disrupt ecological balance in a state like Himachal. This perspective directly contradicts the core principles of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), which not only acknowledges these rights but also empowers communities with the responsibility and authority for sustainable resource management, biodiversity conservation, and ecological balance maintenance. This letter reflects the colonial mindset of the Forest Department. This attempt by the Forest Department harms not only the livelihoods of local communities but also community-based forest conservation efforts.

The FRA provides for a three layered elaborate transparent and democratic process of rights verification and recognition where the Gram Sabha, the Revenue, Tribal and Forest Departments and the elected members of the local panchayat bodies are members. The Forest Department is present during the verification of claims at every step as per the Act. In spite of all these safeguards and checks and balances, the PCCF issuing such a letter to the DLCs even when they are not the statutory body in the State to issue clarifications and guidelines, is highly improper and unwarranted.

The provisions of the act are for two categories Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (which include all other communities under Scheduled Caste and General Caste Category). The letter contains faulty interpretations creating unnecessary confusion about who is eligible to make forest rights claims under the law. The Forest Department is attempting to impose its own interpretation of the term Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD), effectively bypassing the definition under the Forest Rights Act. Apart from one separate provision which mandates that non-ST applicants need to prove their residence in the region and dependence on forest land and forest for a period of three generations before the cut-off date of 13th December 2005, all the provisions are the same for both STs and OTFDs.

It needs to be noted that the State of Himachal Pradesh has a large population of marginalised and near landless peasants and 26% of the population is in the category of Scheduled Castes (who would fall under OTFDs under the FRA). The forest department’s fear that the OTFD category would come to cover a large part of the population given the dependence on forests which would be ‘risky’ is questionable and an attempt to keep a large section of the population devoid of their tenurial security provided by the Act.

It is important to note that in 2016 about 17,503 Forest Rights Committees were already formed by the Himachal government across the state for implementation of the Forest Rights Act. And in fact it is under this act that various village developmental activities have been carried out with approval of Forest Rights gram sabhas and the DFOs. Despite this settled position, it is deeply concerning that the Forest Department is now once again attempting to reinterpret issues that have been well resolved. Such actions undermine the lawful implementation of FRA.

FRA recognises the right to forest land ‘for self-cultivation for livelihood’ without any condition on what should or should not be cultivated, and includes cultivation for commercial purposes, including allied activities ancillary to cultivation—such as keeping cattle, growing tree crops, and other livelihood-related uses. Apple, being a tree crop, falls squarely within this definition. Therefore, any blanket rejection of claims as suggested in the letter related to apple orchards amounts to a misinterpretation of the Act and undermines the spirit of the law. This approach suggested by the Forest Department disregards the legitimate livelihood dependence of thousands of families in Himachal Pradesh who rely on apple cultivation for their survival.

This is not the first time that the Forest Department’s intervention has derailed the implementation of FRA in the state. No High Court neither the Supreme Court has issued any orders against the FRA which is a constitutional law passed by the Parliament of India. The statements of the PCCF on the Supreme Court case is not only grossly misconstrued but intended to mislead. The groups have demanded the immediate withdrawal of this letter and appeal to the State government and Ministry of Tribal Affairs to undertake a deeper dialogue with the Forest bureaucracy in order to pacify their concerns with relation to threat to the health of forests in the state. “There is a need for the Forest department to in turn undertake trust building exercises with the community for joint custodianship of the diverse and rich forests of this mountain state to ensure conservation of biodiversity and ecological security of the region in the era of climate change.” In many parts of the state it is the different rights holders who have engaged in the protection and management of the forests and commons and will do so with greater commitment if their individual and community tenures are secured and rightful claims are verified as per the provisions of the FRA which have all the checks and balances in place.”

“The strength of Himachal’s forests lies in its people. Recognizing their rights is not a threat to the environment—it is the surest way to protect it.”

For more information contact:

Jiya Lal Negi, Himlok Jagariti Manch : 9736760022
Gulab Singh, Sirmaur Van Adhikar Manch : 8219004969
Guman Singh, Himalaya Niti Abhiyan : 8219728607
Manshi Asher, Himdhara Collective : 9816345198