Forest Rights Act Implementation in Odisha

The Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 claims to devolve ownership to local forest dwellers in India, to provide local communities with better tenurial security and allow increased rights over forest resources. One argument for this is the redressal of historical injustices, particularly to tribal people. Offering a reality check, this article scrutinises the interface of informal and formal institutions with respect to livelihood of forest-dependent communities and forest conservation to identify ongoing implementation challenges. Empirical data from two villages of Mayurbhanj district in Odisha use oral history, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with different actors in FRA implementation as evidence. Asymmetric information flow, deficient coordination, undemocratic participation, dearth of transparency and lack of accountability at various levels hinder FRA implementation, which claims to safeguard the basic rights of disempowered local people, but does not appear to deliver ‘complete justice’.