The promise of the FRA remains largely unfulfilled, says a committee set up by the Ministries of Environment and Forests and Tribal Affairs. IT seems hard for a government used to controlling most of India's common lands to let go of them. Even though it has passed a law mandating more decentralised governance of forests, the government itself is proving to be the biggest obstacle in its implementation. Other than in...

Unlike the educated elite who go Westwards, attracted by better opportunities and a luxurious lifestyle, those who land up in West Asia as waged labourers have a much harder time: Practically no rights, hostile working environments and absolutely no support systems. Why is it that the violation of their basic rights doesn't figure at all in the national imagination? About the same time that India aired “absolute displeasure and concern” over...

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER DISREGARDS FINDINGS OF HIS OWN REVIEW AND STATUTORY CLEARANCES COMMITTEES The following is the statement issued to the press by Abhay Sahoo, President of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), and Prashant Paikeay, the PPSS spokesperson, on January 31, 2010. The decision of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh to give a comprehensive okay to the POSCO India Steel Power Production-Captive Port project, based on some additional conditions, is nothing short of...

The first issue in food security is India’s Hunger index. The Global Hunger Index released by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) places India 67th in rankings with a score of 24.1, far below China and below Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal. According to FAO, about 25% of world’s undernourished live in India. The proposed Food Security Act is seen as the key instrument of intervention to remedy this situation. The...

Five years and Rs 75,000 crore later, the Centre has asked states to start a physical trail of expenses incurred under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The move comes after the government found out that less than 5 per cent of the total 68.6 lakh works taken up to provide jobs to rural unemployed has been completed to date in the current fiscal. Even cumulatively, since its inception in 2006,...