As many as 25 lakh titles have been distributed out of 54 lakh claims received nationally under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA), a senior official of the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) said on Saturday, 10 October 2026. The disclosure came at the Second Regional Review Conference on FRA Implementation held in Kolkata, bringing renewed scrutiny to the pace and quality of forest rights recognition across India.

Key Figures and Pending Claims

According to the Joint Secretary of MoTA, who addressed the conference, roughly 11 lakh claims remain pending at various stages of processing as of 31 August 2026. Additionally, over 18 lakh claims have been rejected — a figure that has drawn concern from tribal welfare advocates. Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Assam were specifically identified as states where pendency is concentrated in particular districts, according to official statements.

What the Conference Focused On

The two-day regional conference brought together senior functionaries from the Tribal Welfare, Revenue, and Forest Departments as well as Tribal Research Institutes from eight states: West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. District-level officials — including Collectors, Sub-Collectors, and ITDP/ITDA Project Officers from high-pendency districts — also attended to deliberate on a coordinated way forward.

Key priorities identified at the conference included timely disposal of pending claims, review of rejected claims in line with the Act and its Rules, reconciliation of FRA data, digitisation of case records, incorporation of recognised rights into revenue and forest records, and acceleration of recognition of Community Forest Resource Rights and Habitat Rights for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

Best Practices from Andhra Pradesh

Senior officials from Andhra Pradesh were specially invited to present the state's best practices, which include digitisation of FRA records, integration of titles into government records, convergence of livelihood schemes with FRA titleholders, and extension of credit facilities to rights holders. These initiatives are being held up as a model for other states grappling with implementation gaps.

What Senior MoTA Officials Said

The Secretary of MoTA underscored that the FRA places the rights, dignity, and aspirations of forest-dwelling communities at the centre of inclusive and sustainable development. She emphasised that recognised rights must be incorporated into Revenue and Forest records with accurate maps, and that convergence with programmes for productive land use, housing, and livelihoods must become a routine part of implementation, rather than an exception.

The Director, FRA, MoTA, separately presented a national overview, highlighting the importance of incorporating the Record of Forest Rights into revenue and forest records — in line with the Ministry's advisory of 24 June 2026 — as well as Habitat Rights recognition under guidelines issued on 5 January 2026.

Context and What Comes Next

This conference follows the First Regional Review Conference held in Bengaluru on 10 September 2026, which covered southern states. The back-to-back regional reviews signal a concerted push by MoTA to accelerate FRA implementation ahead of what critics argue has been two decades of uneven progress since the Act's passage in 2006. Notably, the rejection of over 18 lakh claims — nearly one-third of all claims filed — remains a contested issue, with tribal rights groups arguing that many rejections were procedurally flawed. With high-pendency districts now under direct scrutiny, the pressure on state governments to clear the backlog is expected to mount in the coming months.