Category Archives: forests and tribal issues
Rehabilitation Before Displacement
Although the 2007 National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement lays down the principle of ‘minimising displacement’ there have been no visible attempts to implement it. The policy fails to examine the process of displacement, which is taken for granted. The … Continue reading
Paying The price for someone else’s Displacement
Rough estimates point to 60 million displaced persons and project-affected persons in India. That’s four times the estimated 15 million refugees exchanged between India and the two wings of Pakistan at the time of Partition. The majority of the development-displaced … Continue reading
Tales of Greed, Destruction And State’s Myopia
There have been gross violations of the rights of the poor, particularly tribal rights, which have reached unprecedented levels since the implementation of new economic policies of the 90s. The 5th Schedule Rights of the tribals, in particular the Panchayat … Continue reading
The Forest Rights Act Is Floundering
One of the flagship programmes of the UPA government, the Forest Rights Act, is floundering. An eight-month investigation across 17 states by a committee set up jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, … Continue reading
How The Government Is Subverting The forest Rights Act
The government of India views MFP rights as a means to curb Naxalism since the states most affected by Naxalism are also home to the maximum number of people dependent on forest produce. These states contribute more than 90 per … Continue reading
Forest Alert
Sep 15, 2010 From Down to Earth Few committees have been as forthright as the N C Saxena Committee on the violation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) by the very authorities which are charged with upholding them—the state governments. In its report … Continue reading
Tribals beaten out of forestland
Sep 30, 2010 From Down to Earth THE forest departments of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are forcibly evicting tribals from forestland. Around 50 huts of the Korku community in Madhya Pradesh were demolished on August 29. On July 30, forest … Continue reading