J&K sees mere 13% Forest Rights claims success rate: GoI

Srinagar, Dec 11: A massive backlog plagues the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in Jammu and Kashmir, with over 40,000 pending claims as of October this year, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha.

According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Jammu and Kashmir has received a total of 46,090 claims under the FRA till October-2025, but only 6,020 titles have been distributed so far.

As per the official figures, J&K recorded 33,233 individual claims and 12,857 community claims under the FRA. Of these, 429 individual titles and 5,591 community titles have been approved and distributed.

The Ministry said 32,727 individual claims and 7,197 community claims in J&K have been rejected, while the remaining cases fall under various stages of processing.

Responding to concerns about evictions, the Government reiterated that Section 4(5) of the FRA prohibits eviction or removal of any forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribe or Other Traditional Forest Dweller from forest land until the recognition and verification procedure is completed.

The Ministry also clarified that no reports have been received from States or the UTs including from the J&K, regarding displacement of pending applicants.

Nationally, over 5.15 million FRA claims have been filed, out of which 25.14 lakh titles have been distributed—(KNO)