-ThePrint.in Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government on Thursday approved draft rules under the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act. The rules were approved at the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel here, a government spokesperson said. The PESA Act was enacted by Parliament in 1996 to ensure self- governance for people living in Scheduled Areas. The states were required to formulate rules for the effective implementation of the Act to strengthen gram...

-TheWire.in Only six states have the rules necessary to operationalise the PESA Act's provisions – yet the myth that PESA is alive and kicking prevails. A quarter-century ago, on December 24, 1996, the Parliament enacted a law unlike any other in the country. This was India’s first law to actually recognise people’s powers, in the form of the gram sabha at the hamlet level. This path-breaking legislation was the Provisions of the...

-Countercurrents.org In the death of Fr Stan Swamy on July 5, 2021, who was an “under trial” detainee languishing in the custody of the authorities, India has lost a courageous campaigner for adivasi rights. The manner in which the 84-year old Jesuit priest was forced to die has shaken the conscience of the nation. What hurts the feelings of any one with a true sense of justice is that the authorities...

-Press statement by Right to Food Campaign dated 2nd July, 2018 Since 2014, people of Jharkhand have faced severe attacks on their mere right to life by the Raghuvar Das led BJP government. The government has been trying to acquire land of Adivasis and Moolvasis against their wishes that will directly affect their livelihoods. On the other hand, there is also a direct attack on the people’s freedom to religion leading...

-The Hindu In recent months, many Adivasi villages in Jharkhand have put up giant plaques declaring their gram sabha as the only sovereign authority and banning ‘outsiders’ from their area. Amarnath Tewary reports on a political movement that is gathering steam across the State’s tribal belt It is high noon at the government middle school in the heart of Maoist-affected Arki block in Jharkhand’s Khunti district. Over 100 Adivasi villagers have gathered...