P.V. RAJAGOPAL and Ekta Parishad, the non-governmental organisation he leads, have been championing the cause of land and forest rights of tribal and Dalit communities over the past two decades. The organisation is committed to non-violent, Gandhian forms of struggle and has recorded a number of success stories in ensuring and legitimising the land rights of deprived people, particularly in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa. In this interview to...

Sustained struggle has enabled tribal and Dalit communities in certain pockets to regain their land rights. COUNTLESS studies conducted over the last three decades by government bodies and land rights organisations underscore that tribal communities have been the worst sufferers of land acquisition in the name of development or industry. Estimates say that 40 per cent of the land acquired for developmental projects and activities since Independence has been from...

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday appointed a two-member expert committee to formulate a new land policy of the state government. Reiterating her known stand against forcible acquisition of land, Ms Banerjee said: “There is much confusion over the issue of land acquisition. Our government has decided to have a new land policy which will help us prepare a land bank.” Significantly, the earlier Left Front government which...

Singur , Greater Noida , Posco, Jaitapur and so on. The issue of land acquisition seems to now have acquired dimensions which political parties are finding it difficult to deal with. As each state faces political problems, it has tried to pass on the buck to the Centre arguing that they are merely doing what the central Land Acquisition Act 1894 (the Act) allows them to do. The implication is that...

-The Times of India   The state government on Monday took yet another step forward in ensuring smooth land acquisition for the mega Posco steel plant in Jagatsinghpur, assuring to fulfil certain demands of a pro-industry outfit having considerable clout in the project area. At a meeting in Cuttack, the revenue divisional commissioner (central range) Pradipta Mohapatra assured representatives of the United Action Committee (UAC) that the government would consider fulfiling...