By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, September 1, 2017: Odisha retains the top spot in implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, for the third consecutive year, an official release said on Friday.

The state also emerged successful in converging the FRA with other poverty alleviation schemes, according to a review taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing from Delhi, Chief Secretary A R Padhi said.

Odisha topped the list at the national level both in terms of the number of land title rights distributed, and the percentage of titles distributed over the number of claims raised, Padhi said.

As of June, about 4,06,745 individual family titles and 5,942 community rights covering nearly 6,09,553 acres and 3,27,171 acres, respectively, have been distributed till June under the FRA, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Secretary Surendra Kumar said.

Kumar added that the claim rejection rate in Odisha was also less than that of the national average.