ALAPPUZHA: The State government is contemplating distribution of rice at Rs.2 a kg to all agriculture workers irrespective of whether they hold Above Poverty Line or Below Poverty Line ration cards, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac has said. Inaugurating the State-level distribution of retirement benefits due from the Kerala State Farm Workers Welfare Fund to 1.84 lakh farm workers at a function at Nedumudi, near here, on Sunday, Dr. Isaac said...

Those that have governed in tribal areas must share the responsibility for the negligence of the adivasis. The proposals for a multi-lateral dialogue should be set in that context.  There has been a flurry of concern as also vituperation over the activities of the Maoists in the forests that are mostly home to tribal society. There is a confrontation between the state and this society through the intervention of the...

Fairness in land acquisition is difficult to achieve A market’s charm, leaving out cases of distress sale, lies in the fact that it ensures for individuals the right to refuse unacceptable transactions. This observation, though pedestrian, has implications for the controversies surrounding the use of agricultural land for industrial growth in Bengal. Indeed, many — the present author included — have argued in favour of land acquisition through markets, for...

The stalled Land Acquisition Bill should be completely overhauled. In both China and India the issue of land acquisition has become politically very sensitive. In China by official reports more than 66 million farmers have been dislocated in recent years for various commercial development projects. Local officials in cahoots with local business have been rather cavalier in this matter, and this has inflamed passions in the countryside. In India the...

Farmers and affected people from 8 districts present their cases before an eminent panel; public audits will take place in seven other States also   DIV VILLAGE (RAIGAD DISTRICT): Speakers at the first public audit of special economic zones (SEZs) in Maharashtra raised trenchant questions on the constitutional validity of the law permitting these zones, and called for dislodging the government that was promoting such illegalities. Farmers and affected people...