Srinagar forest-rights review urges action on pending claims

The Tribal Affairs Ministry held a regional review in Srinagar on October 23 to examine pending forest-rights claims and implementation gaps across seven states and Union Territories. Officials called for faster, transparent handling of claims and closer coordination between departments, according to the ministry's official account.

The participating administrations were Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. This was a review of implementation under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, rather than an announcement that all pending claims had been approved.

National figures relate to August 31

Joint Secretary Anant Prakash Pandey reported that approximately 54 lakh claims had been received nationally as of August 31, 2026. The ministry cited 43.56 lakh disposed claims, 25.42 lakh titles distributed over nearly 238 lakh acres, 10.45 lakh pending claims and 18.13 lakh rejected claims. These are the dated national figures presented at the meeting, not new totals for October 23 or figures limited to the seven participants.

Disposed claims and distributed titles are different measures: the ministry's account also reports rejected claims. The review urged states to prepare district-level plans to clear pending cases and examine rejected claims, particularly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Himachal Pradesh.

Community rights and follow-up priorities

Officials emphasised Community Forest Resource Rights and coordination between community management plans and Forest Department working plans. They also sought faster recognition of Habitat Rights for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups; the ministry said such rights had been recognised for 11 of the country's 75 groups.

The meeting highlighted regular state monitoring meetings, reconciled progress reports and better integration of state records with the National FRA Portal. These are implementation priorities set out in the official review. The release does not establish a fresh approval or benefit entitlement for any particular claimant.

Source acknowledgment: Ministry of Tribal Affairs, via the Press Information Bureau (PIB), release 2327660, October 23, 2026. National claim figures are dated August 31, 2026.