QUEENSLAND (AUSTRALIA): If you never quite believed government data showing an increase in the country's forest cover, here's research to back your scepticism. While the government claims nearly 5% increase in forest cover from 1997 to 2007, three scientists, two from India and one from Australia, have shown decline in India's natural forest cover by 1.5%-2.7% per year. The government claim is presented in the Forest Survey of India's biennial Status...
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State has poor record on tribal rights by Divya Gandhi
Karnataka has among the worst track records in the country in meeting the rights of tribal communities, the latest figures with the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs reveal. Recently, the State Government opposed Unesco's nomination of the Western Ghats as a heritage site on the grounds that tribal rights could be violated, and that forest dwelling communities could even face eviction. However, Karnataka features at the bottom of the ranking of States...
More »Ashish Kothari, Environmentalist interviewed by Pradeep Baisakh
Environmentalist Ashish Kothari was a member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (constituted by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and Ministry of Tribal Affairs) to review the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA). The committee, headed by Dr N C Saxena submitted its report recently to the Central government. During the course of its work the committee visited Odisha to assess the performance of the FRA there, particularly in the...
More »Hundreds of Adivasis march into Mumbai
Seventy-five-year-old Tukaram Vithal Gholap has walked for over three days from his village in Murbad (Thane district) to demand land rights. “I have fines from the Forest Department since 1969, which means I used to cultivate that land since then,” he said. Yet the Forest Department, which measured his land, confirmed only 29 gunthas (less than one acre), whereas he staked claim for about six acres. A tired Tukaram marched with...
More »Why was Niyamat Ansari Killed? : The Politics of NREGA and the Maoists by Avanish Kumar
The gruesome murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari has shocked the progressive civil society and political groups in the country. According to reports (one, two), Niyamat Ansari had exposed a case of corruption in NREGA and an FIR was lodged against a former BDO and another Panchayat Sevak of Manika block, Latehar (Jharkhand). On 2nd March 2011, Niyamat Ansari was picked from his house and beaten to death. The reports...
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