Long before they gained currency as the real-life counterparts of the Na'vis portrayed by Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar", the author of the Vedanta verdict — Justice S H Kapadia — had made clear about how he saw the Dongaria Kondhs, who are officially classified as "primitive tribal group". Kapadia, now chief justice of India, described this tribe from Orissa as a people "living on grass". His unflattering, almost dismissive description came...

Various recent studies point to a puzzle. Despite rising incomes, there has been a sustained decline in per capita calorie intake. In an important contribution , A Deaton and J Dreze (‘ Food and Nutrition in India: Facts and Interpretations’ , Economic and Political Weekly, XLIV (7), 2009) offer a detailed analysis of the decline in calorie intake in 1983-2004 . Average calorie consumption was about 10% lower in rural...

The government is planning to put in place a more transparent mining policy by designating parts of mineral-rich regions as out of bounds for industry because of environmental concerns, a move that can avoid episodes such as the recent ban on mining at Niyamgiri in Orissa but could hurt expansion plans of companies located in such areas. The plan is to divide the country’s mineral-rich regions into so-called ‘go’ and...

Bolangir district in Orissa, facing drought conditions since 1965, sees an annual mass migration of farmers to other States in search of work. SURESH GOHIR of Bhotapada village in the backward Bolangir district of Orissa consumed pesticide two years ago after his paddy crop failed. He survived the suicide attempt but found life doubly difficult as debt had mounted. Suresh was forced to migrate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in search of...

Once noted for exemplary implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), skeletons are fast tumbling out of Rajasthan’s cupboard with regard to the flagship programme of the UPA government. In the past few years, four districts — Tonk, Dungarpur, Dausa and Hanumangarh — purchased desktops and laptops worth Rs 3.83 crore using the NREGA fund. It is another question whether the villagers who were supposed to get...