Answer the following questions in about 150 words each : 10×5=50 (a) Discuss the impact of Forest Rights Act, 2006 on the local…

(a) Forest Rights Act, 2006. The Forest Rights Act, 2006, transformed local forest communities from objects of protection into rights-holders by recognising individual forest rights and community forest rights over forest land, resources and produce. It empowered Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers by giving Gram Sabhas a role in verification, enabling access to minor forest produce, grazing, fishing and forest produce, and providing a legal basis for community management. This has strengthened livelihood security, reduced displacement fears, and encouraged conservation through local stewardship. It also regularises traditional access, reducing illegal encroachment and strengthening community-based conservation and biodiversity protection in forest areas. However, implementation has been uneven: many claims were rejected due to procedural hurdles, lack of records, weak forest administration, and overlap with protected areas. Conflicts with conservation goals and forest department control have limited benefits. A way forward is faster claim resolution, demarcation, and participatory forest management.

(b) PRIs in planning. Panchayat Raj institutions can play a decisive role in grassroot planning because the 73rd Constitutional Amendment made Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis and Zilla Panchayats constitutional bodies with elected representatives and devolved functions. The 11th Schedule assigns agriculture, minor irrigation, rural roads, drinking water, health, education and poverty alleviation, enabling local needs to be translated into plans. Gram Sabha provides participatory legitimacy, and District Planning Committees integrate panchayat plans into district plans, while State Planning Committees align them with state and national priorities, including SDGs. In PESA areas, autonomous district and village councils strengthen tribal self-governance. Yet planning is constrained by fiscal dependence, capacity gaps, and top-down schemes. Strengthening fund flows, training, and data systems can make PRIs genuine planning units. They can also monitor MGNREGA, PMAY-G, and rural sanitation, ensuring convergence of central schemes with local priorities, and local audit by Gram Sabhas can improve accountability.

(c) Western Coast ports. New ports on the Western Coast are significant for external trade because they expand India’s container handling capacity at a time when JNPT and Mundra face congestion and capacity limits. Vadhavan near JNPT, Vizhinjam in Kerala, and Enayam in Tamil Nadu provide additional deep-water berths, shorter turnaround, and better access to hinterlands. By dispersing cargo, they reduce pressure on existing ports and improve supply-chain resilience. Their location on the Western Coast shortens sea routes to West Asia, Africa and Europe, helping India capture more transshipment and value-added trade. Vizhinjam, with its natural deep harbour and proposed free trade zone, can develop as a transshipment hub, while Vadhavan strengthens the Mumbai port cluster. However, benefits depend on rail, road and inland waterway connectivity, customs facilitation, and investment in port-city development. If integrated with logistics corridors, these ports can raise India’s trade competitiveness and lower logistics costs nationally.

(d) TFR below replacement. Decline in Total Fertility Rate below replacement level in many states will reshape India’s future population structure. When TFR falls below 2.1, births decline, the working-age population eventually shrinks, and the demographic dividend window narrows. States such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and West Bengal, where NFHS-5 shows TFR around 1.8 or lower, will experience faster ageing than the national average. This will raise the old-age dependency ratio, increase demand for pensions, healthcare, long-term care and geriatric services, and put pressure on public finances. It may also alter labour supply, migration patterns and regional development, as younger states send workers to ageing states. The challenge is not only population decline but preparedness: social security, skill formation, productivity growth and inter-state fiscal transfers must adapt. A balanced approach is needed to convert the remaining demographic dividend into economic growth before ageing becomes a fiscal and care burden.

(e) Kalapani dispute. The Kalapani dispute has opened a front on the India-Nepal border because it combines territorial, strategic, hydrological and diplomatic dimensions. Kalapani, near the source of the Kali River, is claimed by Nepal on the basis of the 1816 Sugauli Treaty, while India has administered it and incorporated it in its maps. Its strategic importance is heightened by the Lipulekh Pass, a route to Tibet used for the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra, making it sensitive for border security and trade. The dispute also touches water resources, as the Kali is a transboundary river. It has strained India-Nepal relations, with Nepal protesting India’s map and India asserting historical control. The concern is that border instability may create space for external influence, such as Chinese engagement in Nepal. A way forward requires diplomacy, demarcation, confidence-building and joint management of the Kali basin, so that a dispute does not undermine the India-Nepal partnership.