Environment and Disaster Management › Environmental law and institutions
हिन्दी — Read in HindiForest laws and forest rights
The Indian Forest Act, the definition of forest, the gram sabha and minor forest produce. Prelims has asked who initiates the recognition of forest rights and which ministry is nodal for the Act.
Foundation note: Forest rights and forest clearance: the two tracks
Showing 2 of 5 articles, those that changed from 1 to 31 July 2026.Show all
Gram sabha consent for forest clearance
Copy link to Gram sabha consent for forest clearancePrelims and Mains
Gram sabha consent for forest clearance is the no objection certificate that each gram sabha concerned must give before forest land is diverted to non forest use.
- No forest clearance is issued in India until every gram sabha concerned has signed off, yet the law everyone credits that power to never mentions it.
- The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 requires the Centre's prior approval, in two stages, before forest land goes to non forest use.
- The Forest Rights Act does not use the language of consent.
- The consent comes from guidelines under the 1980 Act, first in the 2009 circular, which require a no objection certificate from each gram sabha.
- Whether that certificate is a veto or a formality is what the disputes on this page are about.
Forest Rights Act compliance inside forest clearance
Identify
Potential forest rights claimants on the land to be diverted
Recognise
Their rights, where they apply
Vest
The recognised rights in the holders
Gram sabha consent
No objection certificate from each gram sabha concerned
Stage II
Final approval to divert the forest land
What changed
29 Jul 2026
- Recognition of community forest resource rights stands at under 10 per cent of the roughly 1,70,000 eligible villages, because shrines, burial grounds and several titles over one patch are counted.
- The requirement that rights be settled and the gram sabha consent before forest land is diverted has been reversed, so approval now comes first.
- Of 395 diversion proposals for large mining projects between 2009 and 2024 only 20 were rejected, none over unsettled rights.
Frontline, 29 Jul 2026
Show history (1 other update)
6 Sep 2026
- The Ministry of Tribal Affairs said on 31 August that the Forest Rights Act carries no provision for gram sabha consent to Stage II clearance, and that the matter falls outside its purview.
- A parliamentary committee report called consent from every gram sabha the most critical bottleneck in forest clearance, which took 106 months on average for hydropower projects.
- It suggested a qualified super majority of 70 to 75 per cent, citing Teesta IV, where three of ten gram panchayats had not consented.
The Hindu, 6 Sep 2026: No provision in Forest Rights Act to obtain gram sabha consent for projects, Tribal Affairs Ministry says (opens in a new tab) · The Hindu, 7 Sep 2026: Why is MoTA distancing itself from Gram Sabha consent for forest clearance? | Explained (opens in a new tab)
Hasdeo Arand coal blocks
Copy link to Hasdeo Arand coal blocksPrelims and Mains
Hasdeo Arand in northern Chhattisgarh is one of central India's largest intact forests and overlies coal.
- A 2021 Wildlife Institute of India assessment recommended that no block beyond those already mined be opened.
What changed
3 Jul 2026New
- Environmental clearance was granted on 24 June 2026 for open cast mining in the Kente Extension block in Surguja district of Chhattisgarh, after in principle forest clearance on 9 June.
- It is the third major block cleared in Hasdeo, against a 2021 Wildlife Institute of India assessment that recommended no further mining there.