-Down to Earth MoEF waives requirement of obtaining gram sabha certificates for linear projects. Will it dilute forest rights of people? Gram sabhas or village councils will no longer have the power to reject building of roads, railways, transmission lines or other such linear projects. The Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), on February 5, exempted developers of such projects from the requirement to obtain  consent of the gram sabhas to...

-Down to Earth Participation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes in the scheme has halved in five years The Centre’s flagship rural employment guarantee scheme seems to be losing appeal for its target groups. An analysis of the monitoring report of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by Down to Earth (DTE) shows participation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the scheme has more than halved in last...

-Down to Earth Town's municipal body asked to first address objections filed by residents The decision of the municipal authorities of Khandwa, a medium-sized town in Madhya Pradesh, to hand over water supply services to a private company, has been stalled. The Consumer Forum of Khandwa stayed the notification for water supply privatisation on December 31 and asked the city’s civic body to address all the objections raised by residents against the...

-Down to Earth Becomes 17th state in country to impose ban on them The Andhra Pradesh government on January 9 banned manufacture, storage, sale, transport and distribution of gutkha, paan masala and similar chewable products that contain tobacco and nicotine. The ban has come into force with immediate effect. With this, Andhra Pradesh becomes the 17th state in India to ban tobacco products (see box). Civil society organisations and anti-tobacco activists have long...

-Down to Earth Enforcement and strengthening of laws that protect land rights of tribals and forest dwellers recommended Disputes over land rights, which have turned violent in recent years with communities taking on authorities, are set to rise India. Land requirement for industrial projects in India are set to be triple in the next 15 years, and with this conflicts over land acquisition are going to increase, according to a new study. Currently,...