-The Hindu Business Line Nine years after a landmark law empowering local communities, thousands of forest villages across India struggle to regain their traditional rights over resources and livelihoods Sundar Singh Rabha always carries a certain file folder. He holds it against himself in a hot tin car as it jangles along forest roads towards village Shalkumar, in a northern corner of West Bengal. His phone rings without respite. Every few minutes,...
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Rules to bypass forest law for tribals in BJP-ruled states? -Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava
-Hindustan Times Several BJP-ruled states have brought rules and orders that could scuttle implementation of the forest rights act (FRA), reveal documents available with Hindustan Times. The 2006 law upholds consent of villagers to divert forestland for industrial projects, considered a stumbling block to the Union government’s push for industries. The three forest-rich states of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, which are home to a sizeable tribal population, have come up with rules...
More »Tribal consent cannot be verified before giving away forests: Centre -Nitin Sethi
-Business Standard The statement of the tribal affairs ministry is contrary to its position stated repeatedly over the past year Whether consent from tribal village councils is essential before using forests could hinge on a case being heard by the National Green Tribunal on the Thoubal multipurpose dam project, which has been under construction since 1989 in Manipur. The tribal affairs ministry has told the court it does not have the power or...
More »Let’s not miss the wood -Arvind Khare
-The Hindu Narendra Modi has asked for land rights to be granted quickly to tribals, but for that to happen, the forest bureaucracy’s stranglehold on power must first go On June 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) to ensure that all States implement the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and grant land rights to tribals over the next two months. Mr. Modi’s announcement is welcome, but nevertheless...
More »Himachal villages claim community forest rights for the first time -Anupam Chakravartty
-Down to Earth Threatened by an eviction notice from Shimla High Court over encroachment into forestland, villages come forward to claim their community rights More than 100 villages in Himachal Pradesh have filed their community forest rights claims for the first time since Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 came into being. This happened after the Himachal Pradesh High Court passed an order, in April 2015, asking the government to remove any...
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