Not only are the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act routinely violated in Chhattisgarh, the adivasis are also short-changed on legislative representation and reservations in government jobs. As the state cedes land to capital while reducing the adivasis to an ornamental presence, there is increasing assertion of adivasi identity, born out of class predicaments and experiences of displacement as much as notions of indigeneity. Supriya Sharma...
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Power of literacy by Aleesha Mary Joseph
Most of the respondents in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala prefer an effective PDS to cash transfer. THE survey of the public distribution system (PDS) in nine States, of which I was a part in Himachal Pradesh (Sirmaur district), Uttar Pradesh (Jaunpur district) and Kerala (Wayanad district), came as an eye-opener to me on many counts. If Himachal Pradesh stood out for the innocence of its people, Uttar Pradesh...
More »NABARD allocates Rs 2,000 crore for foodgrain storage warehouses
-PTI National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) today said it has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore for building warehouses which will help in facilitating distribution of foodgrain to poor under the proposed Food Security Act. "Under RIDF ( Rural Infrastructure Development Fund), we have proposed to provide funds to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore exclusively for construction of scientific godowns across the country in this fiscal," NABARD Executive Director S...
More »House panel to study farmer suicides proposed
-The Hindu The government on Monday proposed the setting up of a parliamentary panel to go into the issue of farmer suicides in the wake of contradictory figures emerging from the States and the Union Home Ministry's National Crime Records Bureau. The suggestion came after the government was cornered in the Rajya Sabha, during the reply to the debate on the agrarian crisis, leading to two quick adjournments and a walkout by...
More »Travails of displaced tribals of Bastar by Asha Shukla
-IANS An eerie silence welcomes me as I walk down the row of houses, not a soul in sight. I know that from every tiny window in these little brick-walled units, watchful, suspicious eyes follow my every move. They are assessing me, wondering if I am friend or foe. But then, in these thickly forested parts, the lines of distinction blurred many years ago. And their life could depend on the accuracy...
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