A maid hired from a tribal zone without the panchayat’s sanction could bring a legal case of human trafficking if amendments planned to a poorly enforced law are carried through. The changes are proposed in the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (Pesa), which aims to give tribal communities in 94 districts greater powers over land and resources. The zones are in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,...
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In Orissa’s poorest villages, questions over money spent on ‘jobs never given’ by Debabrata Mohanty
Last fortnight, the Supreme Court agreed allegations of misappropriation of NREGS funds in Orissa are not without basis. Debabrata Mohanty tracks the scheme and the controversy it is in: FACT HUNT In May-June 2007, the Centre for Environment and Food Security (CEFS) surveyed how an MGNREGS proGramme was being carried out in the 100 poorest villages of Orissa’s “hunger bowl” of KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) districts, as well as the districts of Nuapada, Nabarangpur...
More »CS enquires timely payment of wages to beneficiaries under MNREGA
In a sudden surprise inspection, Chief Secretary Avani Vaish stopped his cavalcade at Gram Panchayat Podki of Pushprajgarh Janpad Panchayat and enquired beneficiaries about payment of wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) whether they are being paid on time or not. The Chief Secretary, on the way to take a meeting of administrative officials at Amarkantak in Anuppur district after alighting from helicopter, suddenly jammed wheels of...
More »2,000 agitating Adivasis in jail since December 14 by Meena Menon
Nearly 2,000 Adivasis and activists demanding forest rights in Nandurbar are under arrest since December 14 in various jails in Maharashtra, but their crime was not that they protested in support of their demands. “When we asked for some corrections in the written reply to our demands, the Collector objected and said we were not withdrawing our agitation. Finally our demand that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the SIMI [Students Islamic...
More »Litmus test for govt as NAC gets specific on forest rights by Nitin Sethi
It has been the most contentious of UPA's flagship schemes for the aam admi. The government has never been sure if it wants the Forest Rights Act to really work, and Congress can't make up its mind on whether it will gain anything from the act meant to return forestlands taken away illegally from tribals and others by the government. It has been a handy tool to make some pro-tribal...
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