As a country grappling with political and infrastructural problems, there are very few issues that do not evoke extreme, often diametrically opposite, reactions in India. Population control Bills, vaccination policy, farmer income initiatives, river water sharing mechanisms or surrogacy laws—there is no dearth of topics that have triggered controversy, and …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your region? Are they the same as they were 50 years ago? Tribals need development, like the rest of the country. I don't look at tribals with a separate perspective. We have been segregating them since independence. That's why they are …
You publicly demanded regularisation of land taken over by the tribals in Singhbhum. You made it a precondition for joining the Arjun Munda cabinet Yes. It is their land. They have their ancestors' tombstones to prove it. I have been demanding a resolution to this issue for a long time. …
Why are there so many disputes over forestland in the state? Why are tribals pitted against the forest department? Land is not an issue in tribal areas. The issue is development and exploitation of the region by the government of Bihar. There are no roads, water employment. Land is not …
What are the most important issues for the tribals in your area? Unemployment, migration and lack of development. You were part of the protest against the Koel-Karo project. Would you scrap the Koel-Karo project if you come to power? I did support the movement against the project. But I don't …
You have spent a lifetime struggling for Jharkhand. How does the new state look to you? This is not the Jharkhand that we fought for. That included 22 districts including those in West Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. What's your stand on the Koel-Karo project? I led the movement for …
When did you rise to political prominence? What were the issues that propelled you to the political stage? When the Karzan dam was built in 1979, 19 villages, including ours, were submerged. We were paid compensation. In my student days back in the early 1980s, I was with the Congress. …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your region? Political empowerment, land alienation (by non-tribals, forest laws, dams, mining and militancy), education, poor standard of living and insurgency. Why are these issues crucial? Earlier, there was a safety in separation. The British administration didn't exist in Karbi-Anglong as …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your region? Economic development, unemployment, agriculture, poor roads, irrigation, education and health and electricity. When did these issues become so important? There is not too much difference in the issues that were important earlier and the ones that are important today. …
What are the most important issues for tribals in your region? The question of maintaining tribal identity, government failure to understand tribal sentiment, land alienation, displacement and rights related to the forest. Why are these issues crucial today? Tribals don't need just the money. Even in the 21st century, half …
Last fortnight I wrote about the different models of water privatisation. Questions continue to haunt me, but let me try and work towards some resolution. Firstly, there is the issue of pricing of water for the relatively rich of the developing world. It is evident that urban and industrial sectors …
The Krishna river waters have changed course. They are suddenly flowing in the reverse direction, from the lower riparian state of Karnataka to Maharashtra which is an upper riparian state. But the water is bypassing Andhra Pradesh even though it falls in the way. The reverse flow is Congress-ruled Karnataka's …
Almost 60,000 villagers have fled the central and far western districts of Nepal due to the Maoist insurgency. While large numbers have headed for towns in the eastern regions of Nepal, many of them crossed the border through Rupeidha, Banbassa and Jhulaghat and landed up in India in search of …
Every year, the month of May ends. India enters June, and expectations of rain. Small farmers scan the sky, reading the clouds (the big ones have subsidised irrigation pumps, and undemocratic canal water-sharing clout). Politicians begin to place calls to the New Delhi-based Indian Meterological Department (imd). Within the imd, …
celebrations should ideally have marked the tenth anniversary of Panchayati Raj institutions (pris), which are often described as world's largest experiment in decentralised governance. Even Prime Minister (pm) Atal Bihari Vajpayee had wanted the occasion to be commemorated in the winter session of parliament. Instead, the house did not list …
electioneering in Gujarat is in full swing. Caretaker chief minister Narendra Modi has run away from his vote bhoomi Rajkot. The mainstream media says it is a calculated move. Of course it is! Rajkot is a water crisis-driven city, and district. Modi had promised water. He was elected. Today, Rajkot …
NEPAD is a long shot but no one has come up with an alternative Together, the new African Union (au) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (nepad) reflect a new imperative in Africa's international relations. Integration has replaced liberation as the continent's strategic goal. And for average Africans the …
THE ENEMY OF NATURE: THE END OF CAPITALISM OR THE END OF THE WORLD? Joel Kovel . Published by Zed Books . 2002 . Price: not stated An average Indian radical (naturally also an environmentalist) wanders into a bookshop. He slips his cellphone into the pocket of his wrinkle-free shirt, …
In India, there is an inextricable link between water and politics. This was very much in evidence recently when the opposition walked out in the Karnataka assembly over the proposed privatisation of Bangalore’s water supply system. Water tariff had earlier been hiked steeply in the city to pave the way …
For the past 18 months, Madhya Pradesh deputy chief minister Jamuna Devi has kept up the fusillade against Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar. Now Patkar has returned fire by filing a Rs 10-lakh defamation suit against Devi in the Indore district court. Earlier, Devi had alleged that Patkar …
