The Centre’s sunshine law — Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, — has failed to find favour in Khunti district, the birthplace of tribal icon Birsa Munda. Villagers in the district said the new act is irrelevant as the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act, 1908, framed by the British following the Birsa movement, ensures more rights to the tribals than what the new law promises. Little...
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Process Betrays the Spirit: Forest Rights Act in Bengal by Sourish Jha
The implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 has created controversy in West Bengal. The gram sabha, the basic unit in the process of forest rights recognition, has been replaced by the gram sansad, denoting the village level constituency under the panchayati raj system. This has been followed by contiguous arrangements as well as initiatives which are inconsistent with the Act....
More »UPA hindering Orissa’s growth: BJD by Debabrata Mohanty
With the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) showing the red flag to Posco and Vedanta projects in Orissa while giving a green signal to the Polavaram hydel project in Andhra Pradesh, the ruling Biju Janata Dal has accused the UPA of hatching a conspiracy to sabotage the state’s growth. All the 20 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members of BJD on Wednesday staged a dharna in Parliament alleging that the...
More »Govt may tweak conflicting laws by Chetan Chauhan
In continuance with the government’s effort to empower people of Naxal affected areas, the government is considering significant changes in two Central laws to meet the aspirations of locals. The two laws — Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, also called PESA, meant for scheduled tribe areas and Forest Rights Act (FRA) covering those living in forests —are said to contradict each other while identifying rights of the locals. While PESA...
More »Tribals' ministry complains to Ramesh about over-reach
Tribal affairs minister Kanti Lal Bhuria has written to environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh that the committee the latter set up under National Advisory Council member, N C Saxena, is going beyond its purview to tell how the Forest Rights Act should be implemented. He has demanded that the committee should stick to looking at the role of the forest department in view of the Act. The letter, setting...
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