Realising it was losing the turf war with the hyperactive Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on a subject that has become a top priority for the United Progressive Alliance government, the once comatose Tribal Affairs Ministry has, in recent weeks, suddenly begun to assert its rights over its responsibilities. The first sign of this realisation was reflected in Tribal Affairs Minister Kantilal Bhuria shooting off letters in quick succession on...

The Uttar Pradesh government today scrapped the project for a township near Aligarh and Chief Minister Mayawati unveiled a new policy for rehabilitation of farmers, saying her “government and party were totally against forceful acquisition of farmers’ land”. Under the new policy, there will be provision of annuity for 33 years to a farmer whose land is acquired. This will be in addition to the compensation for the acquired land. The...

Will earmark regions out of bounds for mining To identify areas of dense forest cover where mining will not be allowed Bid to avert delay of projects and their getting stalled on environmental grounds Seeking to adopt a holistic approach to the issue of mining and avoid a repeat of the Niyamgiri incident, the Mines Ministry will soon draw up a new policy that would clearly earmark regions that would be out of...

It's a Rs 50,000 crore annual business but those at the bottom of the supply chain -- mostly tribals -- make a mere Rs 4,000 crore out of it. The extraction of non-timber forest produce -- tuburs, leaves, seeds, plants and roots, besides other products from forest -- could soon become a bigger money-spinner for tribals. The government has set up a committee, which in three months will recommend how...

HYDERABAD: The Right to Information (RTI) Act finally seems to be serving its purpose: empowering citizens with information which they can use to demand justice. Reeling under an attack on their houses, a group of 13 displaced tribal families from remote Bhadrachalam used the RTI Act to find out the status of the land on which they had constructed their huts a year ago. Armed with this information, they have now...