Adivasi campaigners seek dissolution of FRA task forces, alleging institutional bypass and parallel governance

Adivasi and forest rights groups have called for the dissolution of recently constituted task forces on the Forest Rights Act (FR), 2006 and the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996 in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, alleging that the bodies undermine statutory institutions created under the two laws.

The Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), said the task forces were presented as mechanisms to ensure effective implementation of FRA and PESA in the state, but could instead weaken the democratic and decentralised framework of the laws, alleging they were a “facade for the institutional subversion” of the Acts. In a statement, the group also claimed that the bodies amounted to a parallel administrative structure and reflected a broader shift towards “techno-bureaucratisation” of FRA and PESA implementation.

CSD is a national, unfunded campaign of Adivasi and forest-dwelling organisations across Indian states. It was involved in the mass movement that led to the enactment of the Forest Rights Act in 2006.

The group urged state governments to strengthen existing statutory institutions such as Gram Sabhas, Forest Rights Committees, Sub-Divisional Level Committees, District Level Committees and State Level Monitoring Committees, rather than creating new executive bodies.

Concerns over parallel structures

The controversy follows the Chhattisgarh government’s decision on May 6, 2026 to establish a task force for the implementation of FRA and PESA. Madhya Pradesh had constituted a similar body on November 5, 2024, according to CSD.

Odisha is also considering a comparable mechanism after a recommendation by the Governor during a review meeting of the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backwards Classes Welfare Department on May 2, 2025, the group claimed. CSD alleged that these task forces were being presented as mechanisms to improve implementation of the two laws, but in practice could override existing statutory bodies.

The organisation claimed that representatives of the Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, or ABVKA, an organisation affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, had been included in these structures, raising concerns about political influence over the implementation of tribal rights legislation.

“The right wing has followed a strategy of infiltrating existing institutions throughout the country by appointing officers/individuals who share their ideology,” CSD alleged in its statement. “By constituting task forces, they have now begun a new strategy — setting up parallel structures, with their people at the helm, to render existing structures and statutory institutions defunct,” the statement alleged.

The two flagship laws are being “subverted and hijacked”, while natural resources are being diverted to preferred business houses, the statement further alleged.

Madhya Pradesh example

CSD cited Madhya Pradesh as an example of how such task forces are structured. The Madhya Pradesh task force includes a six-member Apex Committee and a 13-member Implementation Committee with similar objectives and tasks, according to the statement.

The committees include the minister in charge of Panchayati and Rural Development, regional MLAs, members of the Tribal Advisory Council and representatives of ABVKA, the group said. Non-governmental organisations are part of the Implementation Committee, but not the Apex Committee, according to CSD.

At a task force meeting on December 28, 2024, decisions included launching a one-year special programme to expedite Community Forest Resource Rights implementation and forming PESA Gram Sabhas, the statement said. The meeting also decided to allow offline processing of claims while making the Van Mitra app more robust and providing for online filing of Community Forest Resource Rights claims, according to CSD.

The task force further decided to expedite the formation of FRA cells at the state, district and sub-divisional levels and to involve “FRA experts” in organising training on the law, the statement said.

A sub-committee comprising representatives from ABVKA and NGOs was also formed to oversee the conversion of forest villages into revenue villages, CSD said.  The sub-committee discussed the issue and related challenges at a meeting on March 4, 2025, the group said.

However, CSD alleged that the Madhya Pradesh task force had not produced results that advanced FRA implementation or resolved systemic issues. Forest rights claims continue to be pending and rejected, and the review of rejections remains affected by illegalities and violations, the group alleged.

Training sessions have been tokenistic, the forest department continues to violate the law by evicting rights holders or restricting access to land and resources, and FRA compliance remains weak in protected areas and tiger reserves, CSD alleged.

“The process of conversion of forest villages to revenue villages is implemented by Forest Department and using satellite rather than the evidence submitted by Gram Sabha, resulting in wrongful boundaries and reduction in area,” the statement claimed.

The State Level Monitoring Committee remains non-operational, while the government uses the task force and “FRA experts” as an excuse, CSD alleged. The group also claimed that office-bearers of ABVKA and Janjati Suraksha Manch, NGOs engaging with them and individuals linked to the RSS-BJP-ABVKA network dominated these task forces, PESA cells and mobilisation processes. These institutional positions were being used to expand their presence in Adivasi areas and influence the forest rights and PESA discourse, CSD alleged.

Chhattisgarh and statutory powers

The Chhattisgarh task force consists of an 18-member Apex Committee and a 12-member Implementation Committee, according to the state notification cited by CSD. The task force has been asked to map potential Community Forest Resource Rights areas, review pending claims and prepare implementation strategies for FRA and PESA, the organisation said.

Recommendations made by the Apex Committee are to be implemented through government departments and monitored through administrative coordination, according to the notification cited by the group.

In Chhattisgarh, the Apex Committee is headed by the chief minister and includes ministers in charge of Panchayati and Rural Development, Tribal Welfare, and Environment and Climate Change, along with regional MLAs, members of the Tribal Advisory Council, NGOs and ABVKA, CSD said.

The rights group argued that such arrangements effectively transfer functions assigned by law to statutory committees. The State Level Monitoring Committee under FRA is the legally designated authority for overseeing implementation, hearing grievances and monitoring recognition of forest rights, CSD said.

FRA provides a statutory institutional structure through Gram Sabhas and Forest Rights Committees at the village level, followed by Sub-Divisional Level Committees, District Level Committees and the State Level Monitoring Committee, the group said.

These bodies are tasked with monitoring the recognition and vesting of forest rights, devising criteria and hearing complaints about violations, CSD said. The group alleged that the creation of task forces moves decision-making power away from village institutions and towards administrative and technical mechanisms.

CSD also referred to a Ministry of Tribal Affairs communication dated February 24, 2026, saying the Union government had identified irregular meetings of statutory committees as a major reason for implementation failures. The ministry had called upon states to ensure regular functioning of Sub-Divisional Level Committees, District Level Committees and State Level Monitoring Committees, according to CSD. 

The organisation demanded that state governments dissolve the task forces and focus on activating and strengthening institutions mandated under FRA and PESA.