4 min readMar 22, 2026 02:45 PM IST
Attro Devi, 52, who cannot read or write, does not recall a single moment in her life when her name was included as a partner in any property, maternal or paternal.
But now, a resident of the remote village of Nayya in Gram Panchayat Nayya Padog in Sirmaur district, is a joint holder with her two husbands (brothers married to her under the local Jodidara tradition) of a patta for about 5 bighas of forest land. It was granted to them under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
Under the FRA, designed to protect the rights of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers, forest land that has been under cultivation or use by families for the last three generations – defined as 75 years prior to December 2005 – can be formally recognised and allotted to them, with strict conditions such as a prohibition on sale.
A patta is a government-issued land title / record document that recognises a person’s legal right to possess and cultivate land. It generally indicates ownership or permanent occupancy rights subject to conditions.
Attro Devi says she got to know about eight-ten months ago that her name too was on the tehsil papers for the land. “Baad mein tehsil mein bola ki ab yeh zameen meri bhi hai, mera naam behi zameen mein hissedari mein hai (Later, officials told me this land belongs to me as well now, that I have a share in it too),” says the 52-year-old.
Along with Attro Devi and her husbands Dharam Singh and Tikka Ram, her 90-year-old father-in-law Ramu Ram’s name appears in the patta.
Dharam Singh says: “We have been farming this land for three generations… But now we are certain that nobody can evict us.”
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About Attro Devi’s name being on the patta, he says: “We were informed in advance that women would be equal partners in the land.”
While Attro Devi is unsure what this implies, not Vinta Devi, 41, from Lambi Dhar village under Gram Panchayat Nainidhar. The 41-year-old, who dropped out after Class 5, laughs: “We have worked alongside our husbands in the fields for years. Do din se main in saab ko keh rahin hoon ki mera bhi naam zameen mein hai (Now, for the past two days, I have been reminding my husband that my name is also in the land records).”
Vinta’s husband Gopal Dhiman, 46, says he welcomes the government move. “Women’s participation has increased in every field these days. It will definitely bring a positive change in society.” The family owns 4.5 bighas of originally forest land, which has been cultivated by them for three generations, Dhiman says.
Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Verma said the initiative was aimed at empowering women and raising awareness about their rights.
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“In Sirmaur district, 29 eligible OTFD families were selected for land allotment. We decided to hand over the patta documents directly to the women on International Women’s Day. Although their husbands were present, the certificates were formally handed over to the women,” she told The Indian Express.
Verma said forest land rights had already been transferred in tribal districts such as Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur. “OTFDs were brought under the ambit of the FRA in 2013. In Sirmaur, sincere efforts to recognise land under cultivation began only in the last six to seven months,” she said.
Dhani Ram Sharma, an environmental activist and head of the Sirmaur Van Adhikar Manch, said nearly 90% of the women beneficiaries are Scheduled Castes, and seven of the families are landless. “These are the first forest rights titles issued under the FRA in Sirmaur district. For the rights holders, the title represents not just land ownership but also security, dignity and hope for the future,” Sharma said. “It opens the door for millions of marginal and landless families in Himachal Pradesh.”
Calling the development the outcome of nearly a decade of sustained struggle and collective effort, Sharma said: “The Act was passed in 2006, but OTFDs were included only in 2013. Since 2016, successive governments have attempted to implement the FRA but not very sincerely. However, over the past year, serious efforts have finally been made to implement it,” he said.
