Chhattisgarh tribals punished for exercising rights under Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act It was unconstitutional, violation of PESA, says petition It was pushed by local administration, politicians to set up thermal power plant One morning in March 2010, residents of Premnagar awoke to discover they were villagers no more. An administrative notification had dissolved Premnagar's village council or gram panchayat and replaced it with a city council or nagar panchayat. Unbeknownst to...

Gauhati high court has issued showcause notices to the state chief secretary and more than 20 government departments for allegedly violating job reservation rules of tribal candidates. "The high court has issued a showcause notice to the chief secretary and more than 20 departments on January 10," said Aditya Khakhlari, the general secretary of All Assam tribal Sangha (AATS) on Thursday. He added that the court has issued the showcause...

The First Bench of Orissa High Court comprising Chief Justice V. Gopal Gouda and Justice BN Mohapatra today hearing a matter related to animal sacrifice during the Sulia festival by the tribals of Bolangir district of Orissa suggested the petitioners advocate to file contempt application in the case, in view of animal sacrifice despite a court ban. The High Court since the last four years has been issuing orders to the...

In an unprecedented expression of anger, about 3,000 tribal women Wednesday demonstrated in Barwani before the district collector and the superintendent of police. The demonstrators, including children, were protesting against the arrest of fellow tribals who questioned the rising incidents of maternal deaths in the district government hospitals. The women were gathered under the banner of Jagrit Advasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), which works for the welfare of tribal farmers. Since April 2010 at...

The first-ever meeting of the Standing Committee of National tribal Welfare Committee comprising representatives of all states was held on Wednesday with an aim to prepare a draft national policy to improve the the life of tribals and ensure that they get their rights. Minister of tribal Affairs Kantilal Bhuria said till now each state was making its own policy due to which the overall development of the community was...