Report filed by the Additional Secretary, Local Self Government Department, Kerala in the matter of Tribunal on its own motion Suo Motu based on the report dated 26.06.2023 received from Hon’ble Justice A.V. Ramakrishna Pillai on the Present Status of Waste dump site at Cubaloor in Mangalpady Panchayat, Kasargod District, …
the Punjab government has evolved a new strategy to increase the state's forest cover as well as promote social forestry. The forestland in Punjab is less than 10 per cent of its area while, according to norms, the required forest cover is 33 per cent. In the past, both farmers …
As the world gears up to face the challenges of the new millenium, India's growing population threatens to break all records and touch the one-billion mark. At this juncture one worrying question before us is whether we will be able to feed our masses. The answer lies in maintaining the …
Taking a cue from its Andhra Pradesh counterpart, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) cabinet has approved a water policy that devolves powers from the irrigation officials to the village panchayat (village council) through a water users body. The new water policy has been approved by the Kalyan Singh cabinet, keeping in …
On India's biodiversity: India has one of the richest reserves of biodiversity in the world. It is a repository of genetic resources of several life-supporting plants of food and medicinal value that form a substantial base for future crop improvement. But this strength has always been underplayed by the North. …
After almost 17 years, the Madhya Pradesh (MP) government has come up with its new environment policy. The policy attempts to strike a balance between development and conservation of the environment with the support of Panchayats and public cooperation. A government press release says that there will be a system …
DECENTRALISING power at the grassroots; level was on the national agenda for many years. It became a reality through the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution in April 1993. The 73rd amendment, among other things, handed over the reins of power to the people at the panchayat level with …
in a world where market forces are increasingly becoming the dictating factor, indigenous communities are hoping to enhance their hold over natural resources. The revival of customary laws through the Panchayat Act (extension to the scheduled areas) 1996 has revitalised the aspirations of the Gadchiroli tribals who have so far …
when Kerala government coined the slogan adhikaram janangali lekku (power to people) it sounded like a political gimmick. But after the government entrusted panchayats with the task of supervising local development, what unfolded was beyond the expectations of many. Thousands of villagers, otherwise isolated, now participate in gram sabhas (village …
the women members of gram panchayats ( gps) (village councils) in West Bengal ( wb ) have been involved in a determined and successful campaign to improve the economic, ecological and social conditions of their villages - a development that has taken place after the Constitution's 73rd Amendment Act, 1992, …
A MAJORITY of panchayats and municipalities throughout Kerala are soon expected to approve draft projects drawn up by the people's plan campaign. The plan, which had commenced in August 1996, has reached its final stage in the state. Authorities said in Thiruvananthapurarn recently that the campaign had an overwhelming response: …
gondwanaland: supercontinent in geological history, of which India was a part. Gondwana ('Forest of the Gonds'): land of the Gond tribals and their powerful empire. A historic region which straddles the four states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. And famed for its traditional water harvesting structures. However, …
While a kata was a relatively big structure, there were several smaller systems like bandhs and mundas built all over western Orissa. A bandh is a four-sided tank excavated below the kata , from which it derives its water by percolation. Normally used for drinking purposes only, bandhs are invariably
"Development of modern, centralised system of irrigation is the main reason. Everywhere in the command area of the Hirakud dam, these structures lie defunct today,' says R S Rao, reader, department of economics, University of Sambalpur. His views are echoed in the villages. "When we get water, though not so …
on december 24, 1996, the Provisions of the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, a Central act on tribal self-rule (gram swaraj) was passed. The Act's salient features are: • State governments would extend provisions of the Panchayat Raj Act to scheduled areas in accordance with the following: state legislation …
to the tribals of India, February 25, 1996, had seemed like a red-letter day. On that day, S S Ahluwalia, the minister of state for urban development in the erstwhile Congress government, had formally announced that the Centre was at last ready to pay heed to the Bhuria Committee Report, …
Since the colonial era, resources from tropical forests and woodlands have been indiscriminately appropriated by Northern agricultural systems and then by multinationals. The Convention on Biological Diversity (cbd), for the first time, recognised
THE minister for environment and forests (MEF), Rajesh Pilot, is in the line of fire. Environmentalists and grassroot NGos have asked Pilot to immediately withdraw a circular urging for the nomination of a van mukhiya from all the state panchayats. Critics have termed the move as a "retrogressive step" violating …
UNTIL the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution, the sustainability of the panchayat institutions themselves were shaky. Whenever it was felt that the panchayats were not falling in line, the state governments simply dissolved them or clipped their wings. By making elections mandatory and preventing state governments from superseding these …
A QUIET revolution is gradually transforming the landscape in the villages of Rajasthan's Udaipur district, turning barren and denuded land into thriving patches of green vegetation; Sangwa is one such village. On August 4, Jagdish Chandra Ameta proudly received the Indira Priyadarshim Vriksharmtra Award for 1993, given to the Sangwa …
Remote villages lacking post office services will be given monetary incentive to set up a basic postal facility under a newly introduced government programme called the Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Yojana. Under the scheme, in area under each panchayat, a committee will identify an educated, unemployed youth to undertake postal functions …
