-The Hindu Business Line Nine years after a landmark law empowering local communities, thousands of forest villages across India struggle to regain their traditional rights over resources and livelihoods Sundar Singh Rabha always carries a certain file folder. He holds it against himself in a hot tin car as it jangles along forest roads towards village Shalkumar, in a northern corner of West Bengal. His phone rings without respite. Every few minutes,...
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‘Cracker ban on Deepavali against Hindu tradition’ -Krishnadas Rajagopal
-The Hindu SC to hear plea by 3 infants today; Centre keeps mum on the effects A plea by three infants in the Supreme Court for a ban on firecrackers during Deepavali has been strongly objected to in the Supreme Court by various organisations, one of them contending that “crackers are burst on Deepavali to celebrate the victory of good over evil” and a ban will “affect the traditional and customary rights...
More »Landlessness is higher among Dalits but more adivasis are ‘deprived’ -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express The SECC has identified 14 parameters of exclusion. Fulfilling even one of them would result in a household being treated as non-deprived. Adivasis or Scheduled Tribes are the most deprived among rural households in India, despite their suffering much lower levels of landlessness and dependence on manual casual labour compared to the Dalits or Scheduled Castes. According to the results of the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011, nearly...
More »Let’s not miss the wood -Arvind Khare
-The Hindu Narendra Modi has asked for land rights to be granted quickly to tribals, but for that to happen, the forest bureaucracy’s stranglehold on power must first go On June 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) to ensure that all States implement the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and grant land rights to tribals over the next two months. Mr. Modi’s announcement is welcome, but nevertheless...
More »The Questions We Should Be Asking Frequently About the Land Acquisition Act -Usha Ramanathan
-GRISTMedia.com In the course of my work as part of a team set up to look into the socio-economic status of Adivasi communities, there were several things I learned about the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, and the amendments to it. Here are some important questions about land and the Act that we should be asking: * What is the State's relationship to land and its citizens? This a key question - and one...
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