-The Economic Times   Development and land rights are the new weapons in the government's war against Naxals. To forge an effective response, the rural development ministry is consulting the collectors of the 60 Left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected districts at a day-long meeting in the Capital on Tuesday. In the past, development programmes have failed to take into account the ground realities in these districts. This has contributed to ineffective programme implementation in these...

The foreword — to the Draft National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 — that says “urbanisation is inevitable” (I.p.1) signifies danger. The Bill, if enacted in its present form, is likely to worsen, and not stop, displacement of tribal, Dalit and other backward communities. The Bill states: “The issue of who acquires land is less important than the process of land acquisition, compensation for land acquired and...

National Infrastructure Equity Audit conducted in 125 gram panchayats in five States There is a continued prevalence of deep-rooted caste-based inequity in the contribution and availability of infrastructure and, hence, of the accessibility of services and entitlements, a report has suggested. The Scheduled Castes (SC), the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and minorities do not have access to functional infrastructure facilities as they are ‘merely situated in the general or backward classes habitations,' according...

A report from a sample survey of the functioning of the public distribution system in 12 villages in two districts in Orissa, a state usually associated with a poor PDS. While there are errors in exclusion and inclusion of households covered, there has been a vast improvement in operation of the PDS; below the poverty line households seem to be receiving their entitlements. The households also express a strong preference...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on Wednesday introduced the politically crucial land acquisition Bill in the Lok Sabha, less than two months after the ministry of rural development began drafting it. The National Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement Bill, 2011, aims to address rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) by providing safeguards for both landowners and livelihood losers while clearly defining the “public purpose” for which land can be acquired...