-The Hindu Administration argues pulling down their huts will ensure ‘safety of wildlife’ KAWARDAH (CHHATTISGARH): A day after the Union government announced a Rs.100-crore grant for Chukutiya Bhunjia of Orissa, a primitive tribe which lives on the eastern border of Chhattisgarh, 30 huts of the Baigas, another primitive tribe, were razed to the ground by government officials in the western part of the State. The incident took place on February 18, adjacent to...

-The New Indian Express Bhubaneshwar: The State Government has decided to implement the Focused Area Development (FAD) scheme for the welfare of tribal people for the next 10 years with an expenditure of `15.9 crore per year. The scheme was launched in 2012-13 for providing alternative sources of livelihood to the tribal people. The decision to continue the FAD scheme for the next 10 years was taken at a high level meeting...

-The Hindu Kota, Rajasthan: The sun is about to set over grey-brown slabs in sandstone quarries in Kota district, Rajasthan. Babulal Khairwa sits at the edge of a quarry and attentively hits a taanki, a chisel shaped like a gigantic nail, placed on the stone with a hammer. Babulal hits the stone with the hammer till it cracks in a straight line. Each 2 by 10 square feet foot slab, or...

-The Guardian The government's decision to allow major infrastructure projects to go ahead without obtaining consent for forest clearance paves the way for the violation of village land rights, say rights groups Land and tribal rights in India have been dealt a new blow after the government announced last week that major infrastructure projects will be exempt from obtaining consent for forest clearance from tribal communities living in the forest, a decision...

-The Hindu ‘State nod enough for diversion of Forest Land unless it significantly affects quality of life of displaced persons’ In a major turnaround in its stand on the Vedanta case, the government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Gram Sabha consent was not required for diversion of Forest Land, barring in exceptional cases. In an affidavit submitted in the court, the government — the Ministries of Tribal Affairs and Environment and...