Tribal Affairs Ministry set to revamp forest rights cells, form ‘one-stop’ project monitoring units

A year after the Tribal Affairs Ministry started a programme to fund Forest Rights Act Cells (FRA cells) to aid the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the government has decided to expand the mandate of such cells at the State- and Union Territory-level, The Hindu has learnt.

Funding of FRA cells was introduced as part of the Ministry’s DAJGUA programme to help States with additional human resources and expedite the processing of forest rights claims, besides helping in record-keeping and digitising existing records of forest rights titles. Till last June, the Ministry had sanctioned 324 district-level cells in 18 States and UTs, and 17 cells at the State level.

In a review meeting with States on February 4, the Ministry moved to create ‘one-stop’ Project Monitoring Units (PMUs) that would coordinate on all policy matters, officials said.

The move has created confusion among several States implementing the FRA, which have already formed FRA cells. Last week, the Odisha government ordered closure of existing FRA cells in 50 sub-divisions, a move an official confirmed as being part of the Ministry’s revamp plans.

Officials in Chhattisgarh said the State is figuring out how to form PMUs and exploring if existing FRA cells can expand functions beyond the FRA’s ambit. However, the officials have not received any written instructions from the Ministry.

A Ministry official said provisions to fund cells exclusively for FRA implementation were “increasing costs” and made challenging communication with the States on implementing policies.

With the updated policy, each State and UT will have a PMU comprising four officials – for FRA support, livelihood support, IT and MIS expertise, and one other assistant or team leader. Under PMUs, there will be two experts in each district – for FRA support and one MIS expert – for coordination.

“Separate cells for each policy were creating challenges in coordinating the work and so it was thought that it will be simpler and faster for policies to be implemented if one unit was set up to coordinate on all policies,” the official said, adding that States were briefed in the February 4 meeting so that they got time to adjust.

Officials said several States expressed apprehensions about shutting down existing FRA cells but were told about their temporary nature. “The Ministry has further informed them of the changes in the policy so that they have time to re-assign FRA cell personnel or let go of them, as per the need,” the official said.

An official in Chhattisgarh said personnel for FRA cells were specifically hired for FRA implementation and it needs to be seen if they can handle other aspects.