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...

Down to Earth Nirasiya Bai’s three sons are used to their mother fainting every other week. Small pieces of shakkar (brown sugar) are now kept handy and placed swiftly under her tongue every time she is on the verge of collapsing. In March alone, three such incidents have occurred. The 52-year-old resident of Shivtarai village in Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur district is a diabetes patient. Nearly every other family in the village houses...

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 Telegraph It has been estimated that 76% of all prisoners in India — 371,848 in absolute numbers — are undertrials Days after the Indian president, Droupadi Murmu, highlighted the plight of poor and tribal undertrials languishing in jails for petty crimes despite getting bail, the Supreme Court has sought details of such prisoners for formulating a national scheme for their release. This is timely. It has been estimated that 76% of...

-Newsclick.in The Van Gujjars are among a few surviving transhumant pastoral communities worldwide. They are a rarity in that they are one of the few Muslim tribals who have survived as nomads to the present day. Eighty-six Families from Silan, a Van Gujjar settlement in Shivpuri Range, Tehri Garhwal, have filed their claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and further submitted them...