-Scroll.in It contends that the draft policy released in March undermines the rights of Adivasis and other forest dwellers. The Union tribal affairs ministry has criticised the environment ministry’s draft National Forest Policy, contending that it will promote the privatisation of forests and undermine the rights of communities who live in them. In a letter to the environment secretary CK Mishra on June 19, Leena Nair, the tribal affairs secretary, noted...

-Press statement by Right to Food Campaign dated 2nd July, 2018 Since 2014, people of Jharkhand have faced severe attacks on their mere right to life by the Raghuvar Das led BJP government. The government has been trying to acquire land of Adivasis and Moolvasis against their wishes that will directly affect their livelihoods. On the other hand, there is also a direct attack on the people’s freedom to religion leading...

-Livemint.com Odisha is a front-runner in women’s land ownership, much of it owing to government policies from the 1980s. But has ownership led to empowerment? Surrounded by sun-drenched paddy fields interspersed with jackfruit and banana trees, Sanakusupadu is a hamlet in Odisha’s tribal-dominated district of Rayagada. Here, almost every married woman owns land. No matter how small the holding, land documents of the 62 households in this village bear the names of the...

-GoIMonitor.com The villagers getting management rights under the forest rights Act can inspire others “First came the forest, followed by the people, and then the government. Does this chronology allow the newest entrant in the scheme to determine the relationship between the two older entities? In other words, does the new regime of community forest resource bequeath rights or is it merely a recognition of unalienable rights already vested in the communities living...

-TheWire.in A pregnant tribal woman recently had to be carried for nearly 8 kms to reach a proper road to get to the hospital, an incident that is all to familiar to the region that is still awaiting basic infrastructure. Atappady (Kerala): Panali, a 35-year-old tribal man in the Edvani area of Nilgiri Hills in Attappady, Kerala, along with his relatives, had to carry his pregnant wife on his shoulder for...