FRA implementation in J&K: Tribal Affairs department to be nodal department: LG Sinha
Jammu, Dec 12: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has ordered that Tribal Affairs Department will be the nodal department for implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Administrative Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department as the nodal officer from J&K will coordinate with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, for monitoring and reporting of implementation and the progress of initiatives under the Act, covered under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA).
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in a post through the ‘Office of Chief Minister, J&K’ on micro-blogging site ‘X’, has stated that by designating Tribal Affairs department as the nodal department for FRA implementation, replacing the Forest department, the government has addressed a long-pending demand of the tribal population of J&K.
CM Omar has also asserted that this step will ensure effective implementation of the Act while safeguarding tribal communities’ rights.
Earlier, the General Administration Department (GAD) Commissioner Secretary M Raju issued an order in this connection, on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor.
“It is hereby ordered that Tribal Affairs Department shall be the nodal department for implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Administrative Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department shall be the nodal officer from the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, to coordinate with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, for monitoring and reporting of implementation and the progress of initiatives under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, covered under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA),” read GAD order.
The order was followed by a post on the ‘Office of Chief Minister, J&K’ handle on ‘X’.
“Addressing a long-pending demand of the tribal population of J&K, the Government has designated the Tribal Affairs Department as the Nodal Department for implementing the Scheduled Tribes & Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, replacing the Forest Department. This step will ensure more effective implementation of the Act while safeguarding the rights of our tribal communities,” read the post on ‘Office of Chief Minister, J&K’ handle.
Earlier on December 2, the J&K Minister for Tribal Affairs Javed Rana, while speaking to media in Rajouri, had revealed about the proposal mooted by the government on that account.
“The J&K government had mooted a proposal for making Tribal Affairs Department (TAD) as nodal authority for Forest Rights Act (FRA) implementation instead of existing nodal authority which is Forest department. The nomadic families spend a tough life and most of these people are dependent on forest land and areas for which directions have been issued to the field authorities not to harass the tribal families,” Rana had said.
He had asserted that in the entire nation, the Tribal Affairs Department was the nodal authority for implementation of FRA but it was the Forest department which was the nodal authority in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have mooted a proposal to the government which will be put before cabinet for making Tribal Affairs Department as nodal authority for FRA implementation,” he had said, a day before the cabinet meeting, which took place in Jammu on December 3, 2025.
