Considered a potent weapon for combating Naxalism, the distribution of land titles to tribals and forest workers under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, is not moving at a satisfactory pace in UP in comparison to other states. This, despite chief minister Mayawati's repeated orders to expedite the process. The Naxals mislead tribals living in abject poverty. The latter are also exploited by forest officials and police. The FRA recognises...
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‘Harassed husbands' lose their case by Manas Dasgupta
The Gujarat High Court has disposed of a petition, with costs of Rs. 1 lakh, filed by an organisation that sought a new law for protection of “harassed husbands” against atrocities by wives and an amendment to the existing law. A Division Bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyaya and Justice K.M. Thaker fined the Akhil Bhartiya Patni Atyachar Virodhi Sangh (the All India Wives Cruelty Opposition Union) for filing a frivolous...
More »India Needs A Seed Liability Bill by Devinder Sharma
For past several weeks, thousands of farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand have been left in the lurch. They had planted urd and til crops in a large acreage, and to their dismay no grain formation took place in the standing crop. Unable to bear the economic loss, at least four farmers have reportedly committed suicide. Thousands of farmers have been pushed deeper into economic distress....
More »Twin faces of land reforms by Tamaghna Banerjee
Prosen Sam is a beneficiary of land reforms. Once a landless labourer, his life changed after the Left Front government gave him a three-bigha plot in 1984. “I am still a farmer but my sons have their own businesses,” boasted the 65-year-old resident of Kurumba village in Birbhum, a proud participant in Friday’s rally by the Left Front’s farmer wings in Metro Channel. The meeting, attended by around 4,000 people from across...
More »Panels propose doubling job scheme workdays by Prashant K Nanda
Two committees of the labour ministry on Wednesday proposed to double the annual 100 days of work guaranteed to the rural poor by India’s marquee welfare programme, but the ministry may pare the suggested increase before putting it up to the cabinet for approval. The provision to provide work for 100 days to at least one member of every rural family under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)...
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