-The Indian Express The data, for the year 2019, also show that among the marginalised groups, Muslims are the one community which has more undertrials than convicts. The latest data on prisons released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that Dalits, tribals and Muslims continue to be jailed in numbers disproportionate to their share in the population, unlike OBCs and those belonging to the general category or upper castes. The data,...

-Down to Earth Their ancestors were brought in as workers nearly a century ago by the former princely state Descendants of Munda and Santhal tribals, brought to Dhenkanal district in Odisha from Jharkhand nearly a century ago by the then princely state to work in its forests, have finally been given land rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The Odisha government issued a notification on July 10, 2020, for the conversion of...

-The Hindu The new vice-chancellor of Sido Kanhu Murmu University in Jharkhand on climbing the academic ladder as a tribal woman and what her appointment means for social justice It’s rare that the appointment of a university vice-chancellor stirs up much discussion, outside of high-profile, highly politicised environments such as Jawaharlal Nehru University. But it is rarer still to see a woman from a tribal background appointed to such a post. So...

-TheWire.in The rights of adivasis in the Indian constitution are not an act of benevolence to “mainstream and uplift them” but a recognition that the “mainstream” of Indian society has many streams that flow into it, each of them equally valid. The recent five-judge bench Supreme Court judgment in Chebrolu Leela Prasad Rao and Ors v State of AP and Ors, shows us once again how little the 5th Schedule of the...

-The New Indian Express The poor labourers deposit their ration cards as guarantee for borrowing money to bear treatment expenditure or conduct weddings. KOLKATA: Almost an entire village in Purulia district is starving as ration cards of around 50 families of tribal daily wagers are mortgaged with the local money lenders. The beneficiaries are now being deprived of the free food grains through public distribution system (PDS) as announced by Bengal chief...