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VOL. 8, ISSUE 2 (2026)
Right to habitat of particularly vulnerable tribal groups in Forest Rights Act 2006: A discourse in ecological democracy in India
Authors
Dr. Debendra Kumar Biswal, Saumalini Mohanty
Abstract
The Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA) in India
recognized the historical injustice upon the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other
Forest Dweller communities and ensured rights to title, use and management of
forest in India. The most significant is the right to habitat i.e. the area
comprising the customary habitat and such other habitats in reserved and
protected forests in the areas inhabited by these communities. However, the
empirical evidences from the deep forest areas inhabited by the Particularly
Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) show that its implementation continue to
suffer from many problems, as a result of which the majority of PVTGs are not
receiving their rights or community rights are very low and leading to eviction
or harassment by forest authorities. Based on these evidences, this paper
intends to critically discuss three major discourses; firstly, the fixing of
timing of ‘historical injustice’ as defined in FRA. Secondly, how to recognize
habitat rights, where the community should stay or not. Thirdly, the three
kinds of politics behind FRA- intention of the state, structure related
arguments and nature and impact of this this Act upon the community.
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Pages:352-355
How to cite this article:
Dr. Debendra Kumar Biswal, Saumalini Mohanty "Right to habitat of particularly vulnerable tribal groups in Forest Rights Act 2006: A discourse in ecological democracy in India". International Journal of Law, Policy and Social Review, Vol 8, Issue 2, 2026, Pages 352-355
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