Gram Sabhas given equal say in Forest Rights Act Bamboo had been declared minor forest produce recently Transit passes to allow villagers to use, sell bamboo within the community “Today, bamboo is liberated,” proclaimed Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh at a function here on Wednesday, where he handed over to Mendha's community leader Devaji Tofa a transit pass that would allow the sale and transportation of bamboo within...

A lot of misinformation has been spread regarding the allotment of farmland plots by the NOIDA authority to Jayant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan. In this connection it has to be emphasised that:    1. This allotment was not made under any discretionary quota    2. The total price of the property is Rs. 3.67 crores (not Rs. 35 lacs, as has been quoted in many newspapers) plus Rs 9.18 lakhs per annum...

Extreme poverty and clamour for firewood have forced some people in Nayagram into extreme occupations. One such is gathering kolmipoka, an insect with medicinal value After walking almost 30km along rutted roads since the morning, middle-aged Bonchu Nayek returns to his humble home, a two-room hut, as darkness descends on Nayagram—one of West Bengal’s poorest villages—with his day’s earning of Rs10. Nayek, whose forefathers were hunters, belongs to the Lodha-Sabar tribe. With...

Two companies based in Mumbai and Delhi have allegedly duped scores of farmers of more than 2,000 bigha of agricultural land spread across several villages near Phalodi town in Jodhpur district. In one case, the entire land of Mandali village measuring 632 bigha, belonging mostly to the Rebari tribe, has been sold. Though the district administration has ordered an inquiry, complicity of officials is not ruled out since the land was...

DEALS WITH MULTINATIONALS AND OTHER BIG AGRIBUSINESS COMPANIES A wide range of farmers’ organisations, Gandhian organisations, people’s movements and NGOs have united to oppose a series of disturbing agreements which the Rajasthan Government reached with various multinational and other agribusiness companies including Monsanto. These agreements, which greatly increase the control and influence of these companies over the agriculture sector in India’s biggest State (in terms of area), have proved so controversial...