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 …
The South Goa Zilla Panchayat has resolved to ask the government not to allow mega projects in the State's countryside without taking into account the infrastructure. It was also resolved that all mega projects should be mandatorily placed before the gram sabha meetings before granting approval. Initiating the discussion on …
Until a month ago the Adani Group, the proponent of Mundra sez in Kutch district of Gujarat, had been on a roll, buying land at dirt-cheap rates, though some in the political circle and real-estate market smelled a scam in it. Then something unprecedented happened. The people of Zarapara village …
April 15. Zarapara village, Mundra taluka, Kutch. More than 3,000 men and women gathered to attend a gram sabha meeting called to discuss the transfer of the village grazing land for the Mundra sez. The atmosphere was charged as the taluka development officer (TDO) and the deputy district development officer …
He sits in Vigyan Bhavan in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. The secretary sits in Krishi Bhavan; the additional secretary in Sardar Patel Bhavan and the joint secretary in Samrat Hotel. You could say the Panchayati Raj is homeless without an address in India
Over the past decade, thousands of families in Rajasthan's remote villages have installed solar lighting systems at their homes, which harness solar energy to generate electricity. It is a simple device but it has shrunk the nights in Rajasthan's countryside. Over the past decade, thousands of families in the state's …
the Maharashtra government has given away about 40 hectares (ha) of grazing land to Dow Chemicals for a research and development facility in Shendi village, 30 km from Pune. Villagers say they were kept in the dark about the Rs 400-crore facility and their dairy business suffered huge losses. Activists …
IN the empty courtyard of Sajabhai Bodat's hut, there is nothing but a white, plastic chair propped against a mud wall in faded green. The chair holds a framed photograph of Sajabhai, who was recently killed by a police bullet. On the cow dung lined floor under the chair are …
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, (NREGA) was enacted with the objective of enhancing livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year, to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The Act initially came into …
It is not possible to realise the massive potential of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act if we deploy the same ossified structure of implementation that has deeply institutionalised corruption, inefficiency and non-accountability into the very fabric of Indian democracy.
The objective of the recently enacted Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act is to undo the effects of the historical injustice that has been suffered by communities that reside in and depend upon forests for their bona fide livelihood needs. The provisions of the …
The Scheduled Tribes & Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (Act 2 of 2007). Implications for the management of protected areas and wildlife in West Bengal.
Union minister for rural development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh defends reports of irregularities in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in a interview with Sandip Das Problem areas in implementing NREGA We have to change the mindset of officials who have been in charge of rural development schemes since …
the Udaipur administration recently announced its plans to go ahead with allotment of land for jatropha plantation. The move, made under the recently notified Rajasthan Land Revenue (Allotment of waste land for bio-fuel plantation and bio-fuel based Industrial and processing unit) Rules, 2007, has sparked several protests. Under the new …
"I have no choice but to leave my village in search of work. Otherwise, my family will starve,' says Samra Malik of Malikput village in Orissa's Koraput district. He, and several others landless like him, go to work on railway construction sites in Andhra Pradesh and coastal Orissa. Malik alleges …
will the new forest rights rules empower forest communities? There are mixed responses to the recently released draft of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Rules, 2007. Announced on June 19, the rules are meant to operationalise the parent act. The Union ministry of …
Thousands of tribals in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district are on the run after they were allegedly attacked by the local administration and upper caste landlords. On April 19, 2007, tribals in Ghateha village, bordering Uttar Pradesh, were evicted from the over 400-hectare (ha) forestland by a large contingent of police …
on april 21, 2007, the Karnataka legislative council (upper house of the legislature) passed an amendment to the state Panchayati Raj Act, 1993, to take over the role of panchayats in selecting beneficiaries for development programmes at the village-level. "If the gram panchayat fails to prepare beneficiaries' list in respect …
With the increase in population and revolutionary development in the field of agriculture and industrial sectors, requirement of water has drastically increased in our country. Consequences of rising demand of water has rapidly decreased its quantity and deteriorated the quality, thereby requires its judicious use and reuse.
