-Live Mint MoEF notification on 5 February says linear projects such as roads, canals wouldn't require gram sabha consent A move by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to exempt promoters of so-called linear projects such as roads, pipelines and canals from seeking the consent of village councils in forest areas will likely be a non-starter unless the government moves to amend the forest rights Act (FRA). MoEF issued a notification on...

-Down to Earth They turn a blind eye to laws overriding tribal rights, complains national commission GOVERNORS of states with sizeable tribal population have come in for indictment over not performing their special administrative roles. To ensure partial autonomy in tribal areas, the Constitution entrusts governors with immense powers to supervise the administration and governance in such areas. They can allow or disallow any law or development programme in tribal areas to...

-The Hindu Though they are Scheduled Tribes (STs) in northern Andhra Pradesh, just across the Sileru river in southern Odisha, the Konda Reddi community is not recognised as tribal. Warning that Maoists are taking advantage of their grievances, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has recommended that their claims - which he feels are genuine - be examined soon. In a letter to Union Tribal Affairs Minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo on Monday,...

-The Hindu Close on the heels of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's announcement of 50 per cent reservation for women in cooperatives, the State Cabinet on Monday passed a proposal to that effect. As per the decision, 50 per cent of the seats in all cooperatives, primary agricultural cooperative societies will be reserved for women. From the quota, two seats each will be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes...

-The Hindu   To be dug in eight delta districts at a cost of Rs. 181 crore Chennai: At a time when the State, particularly Cauvery delta region, is in the midst of a drought, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has come in handy for the government to order the creation of 15,000 farm ponds in eight delta districts. The ponds are to be dug on lands of agriculturists who...