Devil is in the details

Duharam Majhvar, a 60-year-old resident from Kundeli village in Chhattisgarh, had applied for an Individual Forest Rights (IFR) claim for 4 acres but received ownership for only 0.1 acres. “That is barely even enough to build a house,” said Majhvar, whose family has occupied their land since his grandparents’ generation. Like Majhvar, several tribals in the state received ownership certificates for significantly less land than they originally occupied. This story underscores the challenges and shortcomings in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, particularly in ensuring that tribal communities receive their rightful land titles.

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