On 22 May 2006, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005, tabled its report in the Lok Sabha emphasising the need for recognition for the traditional forest dwellers as well as to those who are forced into the forests by government displacement. The Committee informed the Lok Sabha that they are going to give a new definition to the Bill so that other traditional forest dwellers are covered under the Bill.

One of the major recommendations of the Committee was to give gram sabhas the power to identify and decide on the rights of the eligible forest dweller. At the same time, the members emphasised the need for an open, transparent and democratic decision-making process.

The existing Tribal Bill declares the cut-off date for a forest dweller as October 1980, the date on which the Forest Conservation Act came into force. According to the Committee, going by this date deprives many people who migrated or were forcefully displaced from their original location.

The Committee has also recommended that the government set up a forest produce prices commission.