-TheWire.in In Gujarat’s Chhota Udaipur, MNREGA has helped villagers increase their earnings, improved connectivity in the area and led to higher farm yields. In the ubiquitous environment of the withdrawal of the welfare state across the globe, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) in India stands out as a critical and unique intervention. MNREGA is a social safety net that guarantees 100 days of employment to every rural household...
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In Himachal Pradesh, a village is using the law to take back forest land from the Forest Department -Shazia Nigar
-Scroll.in The Forest Rights Act recognises the rights of forest dwelling communities and entrusts them with the responsibility for conservation. The residents of Gunehar village in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district are attempting to use the Forest Rights Act to challenge the state Forest Department’s decision to hand over two hectares of local forest land to the Wildlife Department to construct an office complex. At the end of December, the Gunehar panchayat...
More »Towards less-cash agriculture: Well before demonetisation, low credit-driven model came up in Dewas -Vivian Fernandes
-The Financial Express In Madhya Pradesh’s tribal districts of Dewas and Khargone, the NGO, Samaj Pragati Sahayog, discourages cash transactions for agricultural inputs. The interest rates are usurious and vary according to commodities. For fertiliser, it is dheda—loan for the stuff has to be repaid 1.5 times over by the end of the harvest season. For pesticides it is sawa, or 1.25 times. Even barter can be extortionate. One quintal of...
More »Farmers move SC for return of their lands -Krishnadas Rajagopal
-The Hindu Court asks States why lands acquired for SEZs remain barren and abandoned Invoking the legal victory of West Bengal’s farmers over the mighty state in Singur, West Bengal, their compatriots across the country, stripped of their agricultural lands by their governments in the name of Special Economic Zone (SEZ), found their voice in the Supreme Court on Monday. A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice J.S. Khehar asked the Centre and...
More »Uttarakhand sits on forest right claims settlement for two years in a row -Anupam Chakravartty
-Down to Earth With the state assembly election around the corner, the model code of conduct is the favourite excuse for non implementation of FRA In Uttarakhand—a land mired with reports of forest fires and rampant deforestation despite having 64 per cent forest area—the government is yet to start the implementation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006. According to the latest status report released in December 2016, not a single...
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