Jammu and Kashmir moves tribal department to lead forest rights claims

Jammu and Kashmir's Tribal Affairs department will become the nodal agency for implementing the Forest Rights Act, 2006, cabinet minister Javed Ahmed Rana announced, adding that the Forest Department must not issue eviction notices to forest dwellers until their claims are recognised and verified. Rana said a three-member Project Monitoring Unit had been set up and that deputy commissioners had been told to speed up pending cases under the Act.

The announcement follows months of tension between the elected government and the Lok Bhavan over eviction drives in Jammu's Sunjwan, Bathindi, Raika and Sidhra areas, which triggered protests by BJP legislators. An official circular said the Gram Sabha remains the statutory body responsible for receiving, verifying and forwarding forest rights claims to a sub-divisional committee. Separately, Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, at a public outreach camp, said villagers had raised complaints about harassment from eviction notices and warned that the Act should not be misused as cover for fresh encroachments.