A People`s Assembly was organised by the National Forest Rights (Implementation) Campaign on 18 December 2008 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. More than 400 adivasi and dalit forest dwellers from eight Indian states — Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar — participated in the People`s Assembly.

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006,  passed by the Indian Parliament in 2006, is considered to be an historical Act and, if implemented properly, could empower the marginalised, dalit and adivasi communities in a better way. The government, however, has a lackadaisical attitude to the proper implementation of the Act.

On 17 December 2008, one day prior to the People`s Assembly, the forest workers organised a massive rally in front of Indian Parliament, demanding the same. The rally was attended by more than 3,500 adivasis and dalits from central and northern Indian states. People from various forest regions, including Lakhimpur Khiri, Sonbhadra (Kaimur), Raipur, Mahasamund, different regions of Jharkhand, Rewa, Manikpur, Saharanpur, Dehradun and Badwani along with the supporters of the struggle from Delhi gathered there.

Political leaders from the Left parties, including D Raja, MP and National Secretary of the Communist Party of India, and Abani Roy, MP, Revolutionary Socialist Party, joined the rally and addressed people. They extended their support to the continuing struggle of the forest people and workers for their rights over land, forest and other natural resources. Opposing the misuse of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act 2006, the leaders demanded effective and pro-people implementation of the Act in all the states.

Leaders from NFFPFW from several states also addressed the rally. Ashok Choudhary, national leader of the NFFPFW and convener of the National Forest Rights (Implementation) Campaign warned the central and state governments against the misuse and violations of the Act by forest department officials and state bureaucracy. Roma, leader of NFFPFW, Kaimur region, stated that people will be forced to take over their land, if the states fail to implement the FRA.

The Assembly discussed the achievement of the FRA and its implementation issues and submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister, including the demands for pro-people amendments in the FRA. Copies of the memorandum were submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker, the minister for Tribal Affairs and the minister for Social Justice and empowerment.