Paying a penalty is not a thing of pride. But in December 2022, Hansraj Chaitram Inwate, 62, a resident of Maharashtra’s Pench Tiger Reserve buffer zone, eagerly awaited a receipt against the fine imposed on him by the forest department for “encroaching” forestland. The Forest Range Officers of the Paoni buffer zone had told Hansraj that the fine receipt could serve as evidence of his occupation of the forestland, helping him secure rights over the land his family had cultivated for 35 years.

The Forest Rights Act of 2006 (FRA) aims to grant titles of forestland and resource rights to forest-dwelling communities, if they prove occupancy or dependence on the forestland from before 2005. Claimants must provide at least two forms of evidence, such as village elders’ testimonies, public documents, government-authorised records, or traditional structures like wells and burial grounds. Encroachment fine receipts are also regarded valid evidence.