Issues Related to Implementation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006, in Bihar: Fieldwork from Gaya District, Bihar
| Author | Kunal Kishore |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556117750894 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
64(2) 205–218
© 2018 IIPA
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0019556117750894
http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ipa
1 Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.
Corresponding author:
Kunal Kishore, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.
E-mail: kunalkishore.du@gmail.com
Issues Related to
Implementation of
Scheduled Tribes
and Other Traditional
Forest-dwellers
(Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act 2006, in Bihar:
Fieldwork from Gaya
District, Bihar
Kunal Kishore1
Abstract
Forest Rights Act was passed by the Indian Parliament in 2006, and the states
have implemented it since 2008. The Act recognises rights of the forest-dwelling
communities on forest lands. This article tries to analyse the issues related to
its implementation in Bihar through the fieldwork done in the villages of Gaya
district. In case of Bihar, apart from tribals, the largest beneficiaries of this Act
are the Mahadalits who qualify as Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers in this law.
Bhyuians, a scheduled caste, have managed to acquire (by Kabza, possession)
forest land despite the non-recognition of their entitlement rights by the state.
They have been in a constant interaction with the administrative apparatus of
state in holding on to their Kabza over forest land without resorting to any act
of physical violence. Their basic demand is that the state government should
recognise the legality of their Kabza on the land.
Keywords
Forest Rights Act, other traditional forest-dwellers, Bodh Gaya land struggle,
Kabza, Janmukti Sangharsh Vahini, bureaucracy
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