-The Indian Express Records show that of the 3,59,745 claims for Individual Forest Rights (IFR) submitted under the law that came into force in 2006, 2,24,874 claims, or 62.5 per cent, were rejected in a three-tier process involving local bodies. Mumbai: More than 62 per cent of claims filed by tribals for individual land titles in Maharashtra under the Forest Rights Act have been rejected, according to data compiled till March 31,...
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Aruna Roy, social activist and Magsaysay Award winner, interviewed by G Sampath
-The Hindu The social activist whose new book on the RTI is just out, worries about the doublespeak in politics today, where rhetoric and substance never match The past couple of months have been hectic for Aruna Roy. The social activist and Magsaysay Award winner has been travelling across the country to promote her book, The RTI Story: Power to the People, which came out in April. After waiting more than a...
More »Set to lose farms to bullet train: Maharashtra's tribals protest dilution of land alienation laws -Kavitha Iyer
-The Indian Express The bullet train project, kicked off after discussions between PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, is being built with a Rs 88,000-crore soft loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Mumbai: EARLY this month, Raghunath Sutar (32), a Warli tribal from Dahanu taluka in Palghar district, was at the office of the district collector when his neighbours in Sakhare village sent him WhatsApp messages and...
More »77.45 hectares of forest land for bullet train: Maharashtra govt seeks additional details before giving approval -Neha Kulkarni
-The Indian Express Out of the 1,400 hectares required for the bullet train project in Maharashtra and Gujarat, 353 hectares will be required from Maharashtra. Mumbai: The Maharashtra forest department has raised queries regarding a proposal submitted by the National High-Speed Railway Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) seeking to divert 77.45 hectares of forest land in the state for the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. Calling the proposal incomplete, the state government has...
More »Farmers, forests and the future -Jay Mazoomdaar
-The Indian Express In the battle over jungle and tribal land, deep mistrust divides natural allies. As India gives shape to its new forest policy, the votaries of forest conservation and tribal rights have come out strongly against commercial extraction of forests that undermines both local communities and ecology. It is a timely show of strength since the draft policy seeks to measure the productivity of our forests by the quantity of...
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