The ministry of tribal affairs has stressed the need for implementation of the Forest Rights Act in time bound manner, urging the states to complete preliminary work for identification of beneficiaries by the middle of March. In two-day meeting of state secretaries of tribal development that concluded in Delhi today, secretary of the ministry of tribal affairs G.B. Mukherji said the Centre was giving priority to the implementation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. He urged the states to draw action plan and set up effective monitoring mechanism at various levels Making presentations of preparatory actions already taken towards the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, most states ensured that exercise of convening gram sabha meetings would be completed by middle of the next month.