-Frontline PESA, which is seen as an enabling law for tribal self-governance, is violated brazenly by both the Union government and State governments in the name of development. SINCE October 2012, the Ministry of Rural Development of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has apparently been engaged in an exercise to evolve a "National Land Reforms Policy". Over these months, the Ministry wrote to various State governments, highlighting the importance of...
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Niyamgiri mining ban to stay, SC says gram sabha will decide if project hits tribals' religious, cultural rights -Utkarsh Anand
-The Indian Express The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Vedanta Group's bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa will have to get the gram sabha's clearance on whether it affects the cultural and religious rights of the tribals and forest dwellers living in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. While the gram sabha's nod is compulsory under the Forest Rights Act, the court made it clear that the Act confers...
More »Twin SC rulings provide relief for natural resources sector -Neha Sethi and Ruchira Singh
-Live Mint Vedanta can mine bauxite in Orissa with gram sabha nod, some Karnataka iron ore mines to reopen Two key judgements passed by the Supreme Court on Thursday bode well for India's troubled natural resources sector, keeping alive Vedanta Resources Plc's hopes of mining bauxite in Orissa and promising an alleviation of raw material shortages at steel makers by partly lifting a ban on iron ore mining in Karnataka. The country's top...
More »Make mining work for tribal welfare, grant a hefty royalty to local community
-The Economic Times Tribal affairs minister Kishore Chandra Deohas reportedly written to the governors of nine states asking them to cancel mining concessions granted in violation of the law. The Forest Rights Act of 2006 mandates the permission of the gram sabha of a tribal community for using their habitat for purposes other than customary use. So, if mining leases have been granted without the permission of gram sabhas on tribal land,...
More »Shut all mines in tribal areas-Iftikhar Gilani
-DNA Tribal minister shoots letter to 9 guvs seeking cancellation of leases. Union tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo has asked governors of nine states to invoke their special powers to revoke lease agreements and MoUs signed between state governments and corporates to extract mineral wealth in tribal areas. Pointing out that power lobbies were disregarding land regulations, he castigated the Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh government. The union minister, who is also...
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