Ministry by ministry, India’s forest rights regime is fraying
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has issued a memorandum suggesting that gram sabha consent is not required for forest clearances, contradicting the Forest Rights Act of 2006. This move has sparked concerns about the erosion of legal protections for forest-dwelling communities in India.
Why it matters
This represents a significant shift in environmental and tribal policy, potentially prioritizing industrial infrastructure projects over the constitutional rights of indigenous populations.
On August 31, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) sent an office memorandum to the Ministry of Power stating that the Forest Rights Act 2006 has “no provision for obtaining” gram sabha consent for forest clearance.
The communique was in response to observations of the Committee on Public Undertakings (2026-27) of the Lok Sabha on NHPC Ltd., which was fretting over not being able to secure the consent of all the affected gram sabhas to divert a forested area for the Teesta-IV hydroelectric power project.
The Committee had suggested that gram sabha consent “from 70-75% of villages should be made sufficient for large hydropower infrastructure projects of national importance”, implying that dissenting gram sabhas could be forced to comply.
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