Carbon Copy A freshly passed amendment to the Forest Conservation Act has created a stir among ecologists, parliamentarians and stakeholders. With several contentious provisions, the amendment reveals an afforestation push where rights and justice take a backseat to commercial interests. This week, amidst a raucous monsoon session, the Indian Parliament saw the passage of several consequential pieces of legislation in quick succession. Among them was the contentious amendment to the Forest Conservation...

KEY TRENDS   • Oxfam India's 2023 India Supplement report on poverty and inequality in India reveals that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3...

Their lack of documentation means they struggle to enrol in schools and colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana - Newslaundry Tribal youth displaced from Chhattisgarh are finding it difficult to enrol in schools and colleges in AP and Telangana because of the difficulty in obtaining caste certificates, Newslaundry reports. Primary schooling isn’t a problem because even remote hamlets have primary schools up to Class 5. However, to study further, they have to...

-The Hindu Opposition MPs question government’s inaction on 2014 task force’s recommendation of over 40 communities for inclusion Over the past one week, while the Parliament has discussed the inclusion of various communities in the Scheduled Tribes lists of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Himachal Pradesh, Opposition MPs — specifically from Odisha — have questioned the government about the list of communities that were already recommended for inclusion on a priority basis...

-Down to Earth India’s Tribal Communities have been pushed away from alluvial plains and fertile river basins, into the harshest ecological regions, the report notes   India’s Tribal Communities form 8.6 per cent of the country’s population according to the 2011 Census. But they are at the bottom of the country’s development pyramid even after 75 years of independence, according to a new report released November 28, 2022. The Tribal Development Report 2022,...