Recently, Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai wrote to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, expressing concern at alleged atrocities committed on tribals. While top officials of the Forest Department have rejected the “allegations” as baseless and ill-informed, a recent case in the Barwani district justifies Mr. Pillai's concerns. When Valsingh Sastia, an Adivasi, decided to repair the roof of his house before the monsoon, he had little idea that it would land him...

The three members central team, constituted by ministry of forest and environment and ministry of Tribal affairs visited proposed POSCO site villages and held public consultation to enquire about the implementation of ‘ The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers and Forest Rights Act-2006 and Rules 2007’ The central team led by Ashish Kothari, a member of a Pune based NGO Kalparvriksh, Dr Ravi Chellam from wild life conservation society...

The views of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) panel on violation of Forest Right Act in the Posco project site area is likely to further delay the land acquisition process and precipitate the problems for the South Korean steel major which has been facing uphill task in acquiring land for the project due to local protests. The MoEF panel visited the Posco project site villages yesterday and interacted...

A committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) on Saturday found that the green signal for land acquisition for the proposed Posco-India steel plant project in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district was given, ignoring implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The three-member committee that visited villages facing displacement observed that forest land could not be diverted for other purposes without settlement of rights under the FRA. It asked villagers to...

Armed with integrated action plans for 35 Naxalite-affected districts in nine states, the Planning Commission is all set to approach the Union Cabinet for a proposed outlay of Rs 13,742 crore to wean away the tribals from sympathising with the Maoists through comprehensive infrastructure and economic development as well as proper implement of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996 and related Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest...