The Indian government recently issued a directive to hasten the provision of forest land rights to the country’s tribal and forest-dwelling communities – who make up about 40 percent of its population of 250 million. But India’s 2006 Forest Rights Act, the law which promises to undo decades of historical injustices for its forest dwellers, isn’t even close to being implemented. On July 22, RRI released a new study revealing that the Forest Rights Act has unrealized potential to recognize the rights of approximately 150 million forest dwellers on at least 40 million hectares of Indian forests. Conducted by Vasundhara, NRMC India, and RRI, the study found that if the Act was properly implemented, it would initiate the largest ever land reform in India.
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