Context:
• The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry has clarified that any relocation of forest-dwelling communities from tiger reserves must be voluntary, evidence-based, and consistent with the Forest Rights Act (FRA), reinforcing community-centric conservation.
Key Highlights:
- Voluntary Relocation Only
- The Ministry mandated that shifting villagers out of tiger reserves must be strictly voluntary, not forced.
- The framework provides pathways for communities to continue residing in forests with their recognised rights.
- New Community-Centred Framework
- A National Framework for Community-Centred Conservation & Relocation will be developed jointly by the Environment Ministry and Tribal Affairs Ministry.
- The policy also proposes creating a National Database on Conservation–Community Interface to track:
- Relocations
- Compensation status
- Post-relocation conditions
- Consent Mechanism Strengthened
- Updated procedures ensure consent-based relocation, with Gram Sabhas playing a key role.
Significance
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The policy reiterates that communities may continue living in traditional forest landscapes under Individual Forest Rights (IFR) and Community Forest Rights (CFR) as provided by the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
• Several State governments and Gram Sabhas had raised concerns regarding poor implementation of FRA, leading to land rights disputes and forced relocation allegations.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) previously urged prioritised relocation from core areas of tiger reserves—this faced pushback from Gram Sabhas and forest rights movements.
• As per NTCA data:
- 591 villages
- 64,801 families
currently reside in the core critical habitats of tiger reserves.
• The updated approach seeks to balance biodiversity protection with social justice, ensuring conservation strategies do not override constitutional and legal rights of indigenous communities.