Скачать или смотреть Odisha Govt shutting FRA Cells | Central Scrutiny | Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006

1. Odisha Shuts FRA Cells | Centre Seeks Answers | Forest Rights Act Explained | UPSC
2. Forest Rights Act Controversy in Odisha | 50 FRA Cells Closed | Prelims 2026
3. Centre vs Odisha Over FRA Cells? | Tribal Rights & Polity Analysis
4. Why is the Centre Scrutinising Odisha’s FRA Decision? | UPSC Polity Current Affairs

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📝 SEO Description (Keyword-Rich for UPSC Aspirants)

The Odisha government has directed the closure of 50 Forest Rights Act (FRA) Cells and dismissed support staff, prompting scrutiny from the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The move comes despite Odisha being one of the top-performing States in implementing the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

In this video, we cover:
• What is the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006?
• Individual vs Community Forest Rights
• Role of FRA Cells under DA-JGUA scheme
• Centre-State relations in tribal welfare
• Pending FRA claims in Odisha
• Constitutional provisions for Scheduled Tribes
• Relevance for UPSC Prelims (Polity)

📌 Important for:
UPSC Prelims 2026
GS Paper 2 – Governance & Welfare Schemes
Tribal Rights & Centre-State Relations
State PCS Exams

This topic is highly important for Prelims factual + Mains analytical preparation.

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community forest rights
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upsc polity current affairs
scheduled tribes constitutional provisions
fra pending claims odisha

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Odisha govt's directions to shut forest rights cells prompt Central scrutiny
Tribal Affairs Ministry inquiring into State's directions to shut FRA Cells, sack staff; the most recent order, on Tuesday, directs closing 50 subdivisional cells and clearing pending claims by March end
Abhinay Lakshman
NEW DELHI
ver the last six months, the Odisha
zovernment
has been shutting down
Forest Rights Act (FRA)
Cells that were set up under
State and
Central
schemes to accelerate the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
The law is meant to re
cognise
the historical
rights of the
Scheduled
Tribes and other forest
dwellers to the forest lands they have used as habitat and for livelihoods
for
generations
The closure of the cells and the sacking of the support staff without any public explanation in a State known for being among the top performers in implementing the FRA has drawn the attention of the Union Ministry of Tribal Af-fairs.
arhaa@
say
the
Centre has started making inquiries regarding the directives issued by Odisha's
ST & SC Development, Mi-
Almost 20% FRA claims remain pending in the State, which is counted among the top performers in executing the law. FILE PHOTO
norities & Backward Classes Welfare Department.
On Tuesday, the department issued instructions for the dissolution of "all FRA Cells functioning at the 50 sub-divisional levels under the DA-JGUA (Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Ut-karsh Abhiyan) scheme* by the end of March. It added that all forest rights claims pending disposal at this level must be cleared by then.
DA-JGUA is a Central scheme launched in 2024, one of whose key thrusts is to help States with additional human resources in forming FRA Cells to expedite processing of forest rights,
helping with cord-keeping and digitising existing forest rights titles.
The Odisha government had months earlier discontinued the services of FRA
Cell personnel working at the district and tehsil levels
under the sales Mo lunge Jami Yojana, despite requests and representations to absorb the employees in the FRA Cells that were to be set up under DA-JGUA.
An official from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs told
The Hindu that "inquiries are being made into these decisions",
adding that
"support staff for the FRA
Cells will be ensured at all levels, even if the structure might be under discus
sion",
without clarifying
what this would entail.
When reached for com-ment, the Odisha government did not respond.
mixed recuits
Odisha has issued the se-cond-highest number of
forest rights titles
Chhattisgarh.
after
However, the latest reports from the Tribal Affairs Ministry for December 2025 showed that it also has the sixth-highest pendency rate -
witho
of the 7.69 lakh FRA claims filed pending disposal.
Internal reports noted that in Odisha as of August 2025, there were over 1.22 lakh pending individual
forest rights claims, 13,667 pending community rights claims and 12,934 pending community forest rights
Claime
Syllabus
Prelims: Polity