Home › PYQs › Environment › All questions › 2018 · Habitat rights
UPSC Prelims 2018 · Environment · Rules for the Planet
Consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The definition of "Critical Wildlife Habitat" is incorporated in the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
- For the first time in India, Baigas have been given Habitat Rights.
- Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change officially decides and declares Habitat Rights for Primitive and Vulnerable Tribal Groups in any part of India.
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
The FRA defines critical wildlife habitat, and the Baigas were first to get habitat rights.
Statement by statement
1. ✓ CORRECT The Forest Rights Act, 2006 defines “critical wildlife habitat”.
2. ✓ CORRECT The Baiga (a PVTG) in Dindori, MP were the first to get habitat rights (2015–16).
3. ✗ WRONG Habitat rights are recognised through the FRA process (gram sabha, district committee) — not declared by MoEFCC.
The idea
Under the Forest Rights Act, rights are not granted from the top. They are recognised from below: the gram sabha receives and verifies the claim, and the district committee gives the final approval. No central ministry declares them.
Tribal group claims its habitat → Gram sabha verifies → Sub-divisional committee examines → District Level Committee approves → Habitat right is recorded
The trap
Statement 3 gives the power to a central ministry. FRA rights come from the gram sabha process.
Also know
A habitat right covers the whole customary territory of a particularly vulnerable tribal group: its villages, sacred places and the areas it uses for livelihood. The Baiga of Dindori (Madhya Pradesh) were the first to get it. A critical wildlife habitat is an area inside a national park or sanctuary that must be kept free of people for wildlife; it is defined in the Forest Rights Act. Do not confuse it with a critical tiger habitat, which comes from the Wild Life (Protection) Act.
🔒 FRA 2006: critical wildlife habitat; habitat rights for PVTGs — Baigas first (MP).