Odisha govt.’s directions to shut forest rights cells prompt Central scrutiny

Over the last six months, the Odisha government has been shutting down Forest Rights Act (FRA) Cells that were set up under State and Central schemes to accelerate the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

The law is meant to recognise the historical rights of the Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwellers to the forest lands they have used as habitat and for livelihoods for generations.

The closure of the cells and the sacking of the support staff without any public explanation in a State known for being among the top performers in implementing the FRA has drawn the attention of the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Officials say the Centre has started making inquiries regarding the directives issued by Odisha’s ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department.

On Tuesday, the department issued instructions for the dissolution of “all FRA Cells functioning at the 50 sub-divisional levels under the DA-JGUA (Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan) scheme” by the end of March. It added that all forest rights claims pending disposal at this level must be cleared by then.

DA-JGUA is a Central scheme launched in 2024, one of whose key thrusts is to help States with additional human resources in forming FRA Cells to expedite processing of forest rights, helping with record-keeping and digitising existing forest rights titles.

The Odisha government had months earlier discontinued the services of FRA Cell personnel working at the district and tehsil levels under the State’s Mo Jungle Jami Yojana, despite requests and representations to absorb the employees in the FRA Cells that were to be set up under the DA-JGUA.

An official from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs told The Hindu that “inquiries are being made into these decisions”, adding that “support staff for the FRA Cells will be ensured at all levels, even if the structure might be under discussion”, without clarifying what this would entail. When reached for comment, the Odisha government did not respond.

Mixed results

Odisha has issued the second-highest number of forest rights titles after Chhattisgarh.

However, latest reports from December 2025 showed that it also has the sixth-highest pendency rate — with 20% of the 7.69 lakh FRA claims filed pending disposal. Internal reports on the pendency of FRA claims in the State noted that as of August 2025, there were over 1.22 lakh pending individual forest rights claims, 13,667 pending community rights claims and 12,934 pending community forest rights claims.