-NDTV/ IANS It was the tribals in Khunti -- a district practically in the backyard of state capital Ranchi -- who started using ''pathalgadi'' as a form of protest against the centre Ranchi: Mere hours after being sworn-in, Chief Minister Hemant Soren's Jharkhand government announced its first cabinet decision late Sunday evening - to drop all cases against tribals in connection with the Pathalgadi movement of 2017. In a tweet posted...

Chhotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act-1908 came into existence to safeguard rights of the tribals, especially on their traditional landholdings. It is not very clear how much the Act has been successful in assuring the rights to the traditional dwellers, though it is an open secret that it has denied them access to bank credits, thus hampering them financially. Latest figures suggest that bank loans to Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste have moved...

As far as natural resources like minerals, land and water are concerned, Jharkhand is among the richest States of India. Yet, its people are among the poorest. Mind you, almost 30 per cent of them are tribal. Out of the total population of 288.46 lakhs, 223.1 lakhs live in rural areas and only 65.36 lakhs are urban dwellers. Even a cursory glance is sufficient to convince that most of the...