People living on forest land in Himachal Pradesh will receive forest rights pattas under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006, but they will not have the right to sell the land. The pattas will allow beneficiaries to use the land for farming, gardening, and animal husbandry to support their livelihood. The state government has begun the process to distribute these pattas, with claims to be collected in June and allotments expected by November.
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The land rights will be provided to those whose families have lived on forest land for at least three generations before December 13, 2005, and who are dependent on the land for subsistence. This month, officials from sub-divisional, district, and village-level Forest Rights Committees, along with the Forest, Revenue, and Panchayati Raj Departments, will receive detailed guidelines.
The claim process will begin in June, initiated by Gram Sabhas. Claims will be inspected by Forest Rights Committee members, forest and revenue officials, and then approved by Gram Sabhas. These will be forwarded to Sub-Divisional Level Committees in July for review. Valid claims will then move to the district level and be assessed by a state-level committee in August.
Incomplete or pending claims will be re-examined in September, followed by a second round of verification in October. Final reviews and patta distribution will take place in November.
To streamline the process, the government will introduce an FRA mobile app and helpline, along with designated FRA Weeks to speed up verification and processing. The Forest Rights Act was enacted in 2006 during the UPA government and came into effect on January 1, 2008.
Revenue Minister Mr. Jagat Singh Negi clarified that the initiative is not aimed at increasing forest encroachments but at legalizing land being used for livelihood: “A time-bound system will be implemented to ensure that eligible people get the benefit of FRA within the ambit of rules.”
Additionally, Mr. Negi highlighted that the state government has resolved 3,25,926 pending revenue cases over the past 17 months through Revenue Lok Adalats. These include 2,75,004 death cases, 16,258 partition (taksim) cases, 27,404 demarcation (nishandehi) cases, and 7,260 land correction cases. He emphasized that the Lok Adalats, first held in October 2023, have greatly reduced the burden on citizens by settling long-pending disputes at the local level.
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