Govt.-controlled organisation will continue to accept kendu leaf The Odisha government has handed over trade rights of kendu (tendu) leaf, an important minor forest produce, to residents of six villages in Kalahandi district. “Residents of six villages in the Kegaon range of the Bhawanipatna kendu leaf division are free to …
In a follow up to the Supreme Court order empowering the village committees (palli sabha) to decide the fate of bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri hills, the Union ministry of tribal affairs (MoTA) has asked the Odisha government to take necessary steps to create awareness about holding of palli sabhas. …
With the clock ticking, the tribal affairs ministry has set the ball rolling for village assemblies or gram sabhas to decide on allowing Vedanta to source bauxite from the Niyamgiri hills, considered sacred by the local Dongria Kondh population. The ministry has issued detailed instructions to the Odisha government to …
The state government plans to irrigate more than 14 lakh hectare arable land by sinking deep tube-wells and setting up lift irrigation (LI) projects. This was revealed during a review meeting by chief minister Naveen Patnaik here on Friday. To provide better irrigation facilities to farmers, the state government began …
Directions under Section 12 of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (in short Forest Rights Act) to comply to the Hon’ble Supreme Court judgement dated 18th April, 2013 in W.P (Civil) No. Writ Petition (Civil) No.180 of 2011 in Orissa Mining Corporation …
The Supreme Court judgment last week directing Orissa to hold gram sabha meetings in Kalahandi and Rayagada districts over whether bauxite mining can be allowed in the Niyamgiri mountains has opened Pandora's box for projects in the state. Though Vedanta and the Orissa Mining Corporation hailed the judgment as a …
The Supreme Court’s decision to let gram sabhas decide the fate of Vedanta’s Niyamgiri mining project will make it difficult for the government to divert forestland for industry without the consent of tribals and local population. The apex court’s ruling on Thursday puts gram sabhas or village assemblies virtually at …
The Supreme Court’s decision to let gram sabhas decide the fate of Vedanta’s Niyamgiri mining project will make it difficult for the government to divert forestland for industry without the consent of tribals and local population. The apex court’s ruling on Thursday puts gram sabhas or village assemblies virtually at …
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Vedanta Group's bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa will have to get the gram sabha's clearance on whether it affects the cultural and religious rights of the tribals and forest dwellers living in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. While the …
Union ministry of tribal affairs has asked Odisha state government to raise awareness on this Supreme Court order dated 18 April 2013 that continued the ban on bauxite mining by Vedanta Aluminium in the Niyamgiri Hills. Read text of this order. Supreme Court judgement dated 18/04/2013 in W.P.(C) No.180/2011 Orissa …
Tribal development must for curbing Naxal growth, says Jairam Ramesh For the residents of this tiny non-descript village in Odisha’s Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region, it was a rare celebratory occasion on Sunday when they got back the rights that had been snatched away by the British rulers nearly a century ago. The …
In a major step to empower forest dwellers, Jamguda in the tribal dominated Kalahandi district on Sunday became the first village in Orissa and second in the country to exercise its community right to harvest bamboo under the Forest Rights Act. The official transit passes (TP) were handed over to …
Kalahandi: The Centre would 'fight' Naxalites through welfare and empowerment schemes and protect the tribals from being used as shields by the ultras, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday. "In the name of protecting forest dwellers, Maoists have created an atmosphere of fear (in society). Our fight …
Jamguda (Kalahandi): Transit permit to villagers to procure and sell forest resources will create a revolution in the country as it is an important tool to empower tribal communities, stressed Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday while attending the gram sabha at Jamguda, where forest officials in his …
Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS), an outfit of tribals agitating against the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district, on Tuesday sought Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s intervention to overturn the Odisha government’s plan to allocate alternate sources of bauxite to the project, which is reeling under acute …
With the availability of bauxite out of sight, even two months after it shut down its Lanjigarh alumina refinery, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) has urged the Odisha government to expedite processing of the applications of state-controlled Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for bauxite mining leases. “We have requested the state government …
It is violative of fundamental rights of Dongria Kondh tribals, Forest Rights Act Justifying the cancellation of the environmental clearance granted to Vedanta for the Lanjigarh Bauxite mining project in Odisha, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on Friday said that forest land cannot be diverted under the provisions …
PSU firm prefers to export the product board to take up the matter in its next meeting After its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh was shut due to lack of bauxite, now operations at Vedanta’s aluminium smelter in Odisha have been hit by shortage of alumina. Time and again, Vedanta Aluminium …
“Mining has only resulted in displacement of lakhs of tribal families instead of creating jobs for them” Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday urged the governments in the mineral-rich Naxal-affected States to focus on development of agriculture and implementation of rural development programmes instead of focusing on mining …
Tells VAL to look for bauxite beyond Niyamgiri for its refinery Union Minister for Rural Development, Jayaram Ramesh on Sunday announced a package worth Rs 300-crore envisaging construction of houses and roads for the Dongaria and Kutia Kandhas, a primitive tribes group (PTG), living at the foot-hill of Odisha’s bauxite …
‘Cos, both PSUs & private, have neither operated in an environmentally sustainable manner, nor socially beneficial manner’ “Mining only leads to greater poverty,” Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of Rural Development explained to the tribals of Lanjigarh, Odisha at the foothills of the Niyamgiri hills. This is the union minister's first …
