In a clear message to Maoists, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that no sustained economic activity is possible under the shadow of gun in tribal areas where decades of alienation is taking a "dangerous" turn. He said there has been a "systemic failure" in giving tribals a stake in the modern economic processes and emphasised that the "systematic exploitation and social and economic abuse of our tribal communities...

BARSUR, India — At the edge of the Indravati River, hundreds of miles from the nearest international border, India effectively ends. Indian paramilitary officers point machine guns across the water. The dense jungles and mountains on the other side belong to Maoist rebels dedicated to overthrowing the government. “That is their liberated zone,” said P. Bhojak, one of the officers stationed at the river’s edge in this town in the...

“Imperative to prepare a dependable list for West Bengal”  KOLKATA: The inclusion of names in West Bengal’s Below Poverty Line (BPL) list should not be determined by political considerations but by economic benchmark, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Wednesday. “The list must be prepared on the basis of one’s economic status and poverty and not on the basis of political considerations,” Mr. Bhattacharjee told a workshop organised by the...

DINDIGUL: Tribals from different villages on the Kodaikanal hill on Monday organised a demonstration here on Monday to flay a move to displace them from their land by Forest Department officials. They appealed to the government to implement the Forest Rights Act and redraw tribal areas. They alleged that forest officials prevented tribal people from collecting forest produces such as honey and firewood for their survival and foisted cases against...

Displacement has become a leading source of discontent and impoverishment in India and many other developing countries. In the case of some vulnerable groups like tribals, it is perhaps the leading source of poverty and discontent resulting in widespread violence in several places. Thus policies which promote large-scale displacement not only increase poverty, these are also a threat to peace and democracy. Unfortunately it has been taken for granted by many...