-The Indian Express Records show that of the 3,59,745 claims for Individual Forest Rights (IFR) submitted under the law that came into force in 2006, 2,24,874 claims, or 62.5 per cent, were rejected in a three-tier process involving local bodies. Mumbai: More than 62 per cent of claims filed by tribals for individual land titles in Maharashtra under the Forest Rights Act have been rejected, according to data compiled till March 31,...

-Livemint.com The historic farmer protest launched on 1 June 2017 had a nationwide impact and raised several demands of farmers which still remain unaddressed Mumbai: The Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, a farmers’ organization affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, will launch yet another protest on farm issues from 1 June to mark the first anniversary of the Maharashtra farmer protests. The Maharashtra state council of Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha...

-The Indian Express Forest Rights Act is not an obstacle to growth. Its non-implementation will be politically counter-productive. The farmers’ and forest dwellers’ march from Nashik to Mumbai, and the Maharashtra government’s decision to approve most of their demands within the next six months, has established the fact that land and forest rights are going to be determining factors for political establishments across India. The protest in Mumbai tells us that a...

-Down to Earth In Odisha, both these commodities are nationalised, thereby curtailing the rights of the people on them As the harvesting season for bamboo and kendu leaf approaches in Odisha, tension is building between the forest-dependent communities and the forest department. In Kalahandi district, around 100 Gram Sabhas are planning to assert their rights over bamboo and kendu leaf despite legal curtails. “In Kalahandi Jangal Manch meeting on February 28, we decided...

-Down to Earth The Pithoragarh administration has not even formed district-level committee to implement FRA The proposed 5040-MW Pancheshwar dam project, to be jointly carried out by India and Nepal, has been facing flak from environment activists for some time now. In a latest development, around 10 civil society organisations (CSOs) wrote to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister and the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, objecting to the manner in which district administrative...