Jammu, Apr 01: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday informed the Legislative Assembly that the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is being uniformly implemented across the Union Territory, with a proper mechanism in place to ensure no area covered under the Act is deprived of its provisions.
In a written reply to a question by National Conference MLA Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Mir from Rajpora, the Minister In-charge of the Tribal Affairs Department as per Kashmir Convener stated that the Act provides for recognition and vesting of forest rights in forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been living in such forests for generations.
The Minister informed the House that Section 3(2) of the Act allows diversion of forest land for community facilities such as schools, hospitals, roads, anganwadis, drinking water supply projects, and community centers, subject to the condition that the land diverted is less than one hectare in each case and the clearance is recommended by the Gram Sabha.
Responding to a specific query regarding the Sangerwani area in Pulwama district, the government said 157 applications were received by the Forest Rights Committee (FRC), of which 24 were approved and titles issued by the District Level Committee (DLC), while 133 were rejected.
The government further clarified that the Tribal Affairs Department was designated as the nodal department for implementation of the Forest Rights Act in December 2025, taking over from the Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment. A UT-level monitoring committee chaired by the Chief Secretary, along with district and sub-divisional level committees, has been constituted to oversee implementation, it added.
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