Numerous gram sabhas are taking steps in forest management without access to enough financial support. It went further by allowing CFR gram sabhas to anchor forest management works under the MGNREGA. CFR managementAs gram sabhas engage in CFR management, there is an opportunity to bring in this amalgamated knowledge and experience. Although the letter was revoked after the Ministry of Tribal Affairs intervened, following a Statewide mobilisation by gram sabhas, larger questions of gram sabha autonomy remain. With a common purpose of building livelihoods through forest management, gram sabhas are showing that better outcomes are possible through the everyday knowledge of the forest than top-down mechanisms.