Forest rights group asks Tribal Affairs Ministry to withdraw stand on Gram Sabha consent
The Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD) has demanded that the Tribal Affairs Ministry retract a memorandum claiming that Gram Sabha consent is not required for diverting forest land. Critics argue this stance violates the Forest Rights Act and ignores legal precedents.
Why it matters
This conflict highlights a significant tension between government infrastructure development goals and the legal rights of indigenous and forest-dwelling communities.
The Tribal Affairs Ministry must immediately withdraw its August 31 office memorandum that claimed there was “no provision” under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) to seek consent of Gram Sabhas for diverting forest land for non-forest purposes, the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD) said in a statement on Wednesday (September 9, 2026).
The national platform of Adivasi and forest-dweller organisations said the Ministry “cannot simply wash its hands of its responsibility”, calling the Ministry’s position “factually and legally untenable”, which “smacks of dereliction of duty”.
“Shockingly, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has made such a gargantuan factual blunder, something which could have been avoided simply by reading the text of the law,” said the CSD.
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