Tribal activists in Mysuru flag lapses in implementing Forest Rights Act

Members of various tribal groups in Hunsur have flagged ‘’lapses’’ in implementation of the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, or the Forest Rights Act, in the district and urged the Centre to rectify the anomalies.

A memorandum was submitted to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), Government of India, on December 11, 2025, by Development through Education (DEED), an NGO spearheading the cause of tribals in Hunsur, and other community leaders in this regard.

S. Sreekanth of DEED said that there was a low rate of acceptance of claims submitted by the tribals with respect to forest rights, not only in Mysuru district but other regions with significant tribal population.

As per the memorandum submitted to the Government of India, Karnataka has nine tribal districts in the Western Ghats region, including Mysuru, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Ramanagar, parts of Hassan and Mandya, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada and are home to several forest-dwelling communities or adivasis.

11 adivasi communities

They include Jenukuruba, Bettakuruba, Iruliga, Soliga, Paniya, Malekudia, Koraga, Yarava, Hasalaru, Siddi and Gowdu, among which Jenukuruba and Koraga are categorised as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), according to the memorandum.

It pointed out that in Mysuru district alone, 12,600 tribal families live in 219 tribal villages, of which 168 are PVTG Jenukuruba villages.

But of these, only 7,249 families have filed Individual Forest Rights (IFR) claims under FRA of which 5,451 claims or applications have been rejected, said Mr. Sreekanth, while the claims of other applicants was pending.

The memorandum stated that only 722 IFR titles have been issued, covering just 553 acres, which it termed as “pathetic” when compared against the actual entitlement of 10 acres per family under FRA.

Though there are 219 tribal villages, only 117 have filed for Community Forest Rights (CFR) claims of which CFR with respect to only 38 villages— in Periyapatna and H.D. Kote—have been recognised so far, according to DEED.

The local leaders said that though Mysuru district has 168 PVTG villages, the habitat rights recognition process had not been initiated at all. Though representations were sent to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs seeking guidelines and procedures to recognise habitat rights for PVTGs, it was yet to act on it, said the community leaders.

‘Total negligence’

The memorandum pointed out that the Karnataka High Court had, on April 3, 2009, ordered rehabilitation of 3,418 displaced tribal families from Nagarahole National Park, and that the Assadi Committee report made 34 recommendations (W.P. No. 14379/1999). It alleges “total negligence” by the State in implementing these directions.

DEED said in the memorandum that 1,500 tribal villages across the nine districts, comprising nearly 90,000 families and six lakh people, continue to suffer without recognition of forest rights, pointing out that forests without tribals was also not safe for wildlife.