Even after independence, many forest villages did not become revenue villages, giving their inhabitants limited rights in land ownership, bank loans, government schemes, and local self-governance. The Forest Rights Act, 2006, provides for the conversion of forest villages into revenue villages, but the process has been slow and controversial in Madhya Pradesh. The recent SOP also raises questions about why communities are being asked to prove such rights, even though they were settled by the Forest Department. The system of forest villages dates back to the British era of scientific forestry, forest laws and state control over forests, when tribal communities were settled under the Forest Department with labour and limited land rights. The author has served as a designated subject matter expert on committees on habitat rights and community rights by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. He works on forest land and tribal rights. The views expressed in this article are the author’s personal opinions.