The Forest Rights Act 2006: The Thirteen Rights

In one line

Thirteen rights, recognised rather than granted, heritable but not alienable, registered in the names of both spouses, and capped at four hectares.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: section 4(1) provides that notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the Central Government hereby recognises and vests forest rights in forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and in other traditional forest dwellers in respect of all forest rights mentioned in section 3; section 4(3) subjects that to the condition that they had occupied forest land before the 13th day of December, 2005; section 4(4) makes the right heritable but not alienable or transferable, registered jointly in the name of both the spouses in the case of married persons; section 4(5) provides that no member shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete; and section 4(6) restricts the section 3(1)(a) land to the area under actual occupation and in no case exceeding four hectares.

The thirteen rights

Section 3(1) confers rights "which secure individual or community tenure or both", "on all forest lands".

(a) The right to hold and live in the forest land under individual or common occupation for habitation or for self-cultivation for livelihood.

(b) Community rights such as nistar, by whatever name called, including those used in erstwhile Princely States, Zamindari or such intermediary regimes.

(c) The right of ownership, access to collect, use and dispose of minor forest produce which has been traditionally collected within or outside village boundaries.

(d) Other community rights of uses or entitlements, such as fish and other products of water bodies, grazing, both settled and transhumant, and traditional seasonal resource access of nomadic or pastoralist communities.

(e) Rights including community tenures of habitat and habitation for primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities.

(f) Rights in or over disputed lands under any nomenclature in any State where claims are disputed.

(g) Rights for conversion of pattas, leases or grants issued by any local authority or State Government on forest lands into titles.

(h) Rights of settlement and conversion of all forest villages, old habitation, unsurveyed villages and other villages in forests, whether recorded, notified or not, into revenue villages.

(i) The right to protect, regenerate, conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.

(j) Rights recognised under any State law, or under the law of an Autonomous District or Regional Council, or accepted as rights of tribals under any traditional or customary law.

(k) The right of access to biodiversity, and the community right to intellectual property and traditional knowledge related to biodiversity and cultural diversity.