Tribal women's empowerment through the Forest Rights Act, 2006 in southern Rajasthan

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, or the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006, recognizes tribal women’s rights to own land equal to those of men. In exploring whether women’s rights to forest land and resources has led to their improved socio-economic status, this paper examines two key facets of the process of empowerment—“access to resources” and “women’s agency.” As access to resources required to meet household and other needs, such as water, cooking fuel, or health facilities have remained poor, access to land under the Act has been able to make only a marginal difference to the economic status of the women who have received plots. But the new found confidence of women for no longer being considered asset-less was clearly evident; this was especially true for widowed women. By gaining land ownership, women have begun questioning entrenched social practices such as polygyny. While the Act has failed to encourage women to participate in the public domain actively, the improvement in their social engagements and mobility has been attributed to training and access to information, facilitated by community based organizations.