16-December-2024
Jharkhand's Master Trainer Program on FRA: Building Capacity for Large-Scale Implementation
The training saw the participation of over 125 officials, including representatives from the revenue and forest departments, PPIA fellows, e-District Managers, and civil society organizations (CSOs). The Initiative on the Forest Economy (IoFE) team from ISB, represented by Augustina and Shiv from Simdega, played a key role in the technical sessions.
From December 13 to 15, 2023, a three-day Training of Master Trainers on the Forest Rights Act (FRA) was conducted under the Abua Bir Abua Dishom Abhiyan (ABAD) at Shri Krishna Institute of Public Administration (SKIPA), Ranchi. This initiative aims to equip officials and grassroots facilitators with technical expertise to support community forest rights claims across Jharkhand.
Training Structure and Key Sessions
Upon completion, the trained Master Trainers will train Bir Bandhus—panchayat-level community resource persons—who will, in turn, assist Forest Rights Committees (FRCs) in filing claims via the JharFRA mobile app. Simultaneously, a separate batch of 20 technical trainers was trained to provide digital support and troubleshooting to Master Trainers across districts.
This training is part of a broader FRA campaign under Jharkhand's 'Aapki Yojna, Aapki Sarkar, Aapke Dwar' initiative. The immediate focus is on resolving pending FRA claims, with new claim generation set to begin after state-level Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions, tentatively scheduled for the second week of December.
The Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) is preparing a structured three-day training module, which will be delivered across three classrooms at SKIPA, accommodating 120-150 participants from all 24 districts of Jharkhand. Each district will send 4-5 representatives from the revenue, forest, and CSO sectors.
This multi-tiered training approach represents a significant step in scaling FRA implementation across Jharkhand. By strengthening technical capacity, lo