The proposed liberalisation of the mining and minerals sector is an assault on the rightful owners of the land and its resources. Tribal and indigenous communities across the world have been asserting their rights to the mineral wealth often found under the land they own or possess or have traditional rights to. They have been historically denied even a share of that huge wealth, leave alone legal rights of ownership. Under...

The Centre has cited three shortcomings in the implementation of the rural job scheme in Bengal and linked the next instalment of grant to the resolution of the problems. In a letter sent to chief minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has identified the critical areas as low completion rate of works, delay in e-transfer of wages and inadequate action on complaints of irregularities. “Let me make it...

-The Telegraph   Farmers in Bengal left around 2.8 lakh hectares uncultivated in the just-concluded boro crop season, a silent expression of no-confidence in the state government’s paddy procurement process and a fallout of rising fertiliser prices. The area cultivated in the boro season (January to end-February) can be considered a barometer for man-made farming systems because farmers largely depend on irrigation during this phase. The bigger aman crop (June to August) still...

Number of girls who disappeared from Bengal last year — 3,000. Over 5,000 children went missing in 2010. But the state doesn’t seem to be bothered. “During an inquiry we found that Bengal is yet to set up anti-trafficking cells in districts to evolve a foolproof mechanism for combating trafficking. The police administration does not seem concerned even though trafficking of girls is on the rise,” said a CBI official attached to...

-The Telegraph Jairam Ramesh’s Union rural development ministry has sanctioned Rs 1,011 crore for the first phase of a drinking water supply project in Bankura. The ministry will request the Union finance ministry to approve Rs 3,000 crore for similar projects in South 24-Praganas and Purulia, sources said. During his visit to Bengal last week, Ramesh had discussed the projects for the three districts with his Bengal counterpart Subrata Mukherjee. Ramesh could not...