A Bill that seeks to amend the existing law governing exploration and production of oil and gas as well as delink petroleum operations from mining operations was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (March 12, 2025). The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024, is aimed at boosting investment …
Recently several villages near Delhi which fall in the Yamuna Expressway area have been rocked by violence. In the clashes between policeman and farmers, several farmers as well as policemen have been killed while many more have been injured. The question that arises in the middle of all this destruction …
The 73rd Amendment recognizes Gram Sabha as a constitutional body. This means that all the development plans of the panchayat have to be approved by the Gram Sabha.
The functions which the state governments devolved to the gram panchayats according to the 73rd constitutional amendment comprise important activities for the development of villages. One of the most important argument for decentralization-the government is more attentive and responsive to local peoples' needs-is of great importance for the development of …
Following the historic forest rights victory on April 27, mood in Mendha Lekha is upbeat. Gram sabha of this village in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district started felling about 90,000 bamboos a day after winning the right to harvest and sell the minor forest produce (MFP). With transit passes in hand, the …
THE Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, or MoEF, has given final clearance to the POSCO steel project in Odisha. While doing so, it ignored the forest rights claims of people living in the project site in Jagatsinghpur district. The gram sabhas of two of the seven affected villages—Dhinkia and …
To ensure transparency in delivery of commodities to the poor in Rajasthan The Rajasthan Government has decided to conduct the much sought-after social audit for fair price shops functioning under the public distribution system (PDS) to ensure transparency and effectiveness in the delivery of essential commodities to poor people. The …
NEW DELHI: The National Advisory Council's recommendation that all private projects must secure consent from 70% of members of all affected gram sabhas before land acquisition is permitted promises to become the biggest headache for the industry if accepted. As of now, such provisions only exist for forest land under …
Problems in acquiring land and delays in forest clearances hit transmission projects Problems in acquiring land and delays in forest clearances have grounded at least 120 power transmission projects in the country, a senior official with the Central Electricity Authority said. Most of these projects belong to the Power Grid …
Down To Earth senior editor Richard Mahapatra reports >> Government officials have started acquiring land in two villages in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district. The work started in villages Nugaon and Polang around 7:30 a.m. Situation is very tense as, 2,000 people from five other villages are marching towards Nugaon and Polang. …
The Andhra Pradesh government lied to obtain forest clearance for the Polavaram dam on the Godavari; it said there were no forest rights claimants in the dam’s submergence zone. Down To Earth visited the villages denied forest rights and found the state had indeed lied. To know more click on …
New Delhi: Differences over the Green India mission between Jairam Ramesh and his Director-General of Forests have widened the rift between the forest bureaucracy and the Union environment and forests minister. At the heart of the argument between the two was the control over the flow of an estimated Rs …
Fear of submergence haunts Kurturu, a village nestled in the Papi hills of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh. In 2005, a band of officials, an unusual sight in this remote village in West Godavari district, visited the place and marked a rock. Then they broke the news about the …
Social activist Medha Patkar on Monday expressed her support for the farmers' agitation against land acquisition in Uttar Pradesh, saying that the serving of
MARGAO, The gram sabha of Camurlim Village Panchayat on Monday demanded that the government accept in toto the Regional Plan 2021 submitted by the Village Level Committee and has strongly rooted for ground plus one construction projects in the village. The issue was raised at the Sunday meeting when gram …
PANJIM, The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), in its revised guidelines for the declaration of Critical Wildlife Habitats (CWH), has given importance to ‘gram sabhas’ by making it mandatory to seek their consent in certain matters. The guidelines which are posted on MoEF website on Thursday, stated that …
An expert committee will now determine the habitats Stung by the criticism of forest rights activists, wildlife activists and scientists regarding its initial draft guidelines for determining critical wildlife habitats issued in February, the Environment Ministry has now come out with a revised version. The Ministry was forced to withdraw …
The Environment Ministry on Monday gave its final clearance to the South Korean steel major POSCO to divert 1,253 hectares of forest land for its iron and steel project in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa, reposing
This MoEF order dated May 2, 2011 has granted final approval to Orissa for diversion of 1,253 hectares of forest land for Posco's steel project. It says that the steel firm should not export raw material from the proposed project. See Also Order: MOEF order on POSCO, April 14, 2011. …
While it is widely agreed that an important goal of Panchayati Raj is to ensure better implementation of government's rural development programmes by ensuring participation of people, it is also important to assert that the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions at various levels is certainly not restricted to blind acceptance …
