Order of the Supreme Court in the matter of Sugra Adiwasi & Others Vs Pathranand & Others dated 29/04/2025. The bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the state of Madhya Pradesh as well as the central government through the the Ministries of Tribal Affairs and …
ANIMAL welfare activists in India have never adopted the path of physical violence taken by a section of those who protested against live cattle exports in England earlier this February. They do, however, subscribe to a moral militancy whose right - eousness is always dismissive of the problems faced by …
Hindi poet Jayprakash Shakdvipiya has come out with a collection of his poems on the travails of the Bhil tribals. Kasak bhuke Bhil ki has 26 satires describing the benefits (sic) given to the tribals under various government programmes
THE tribes of Gudalur taluk -- Betta Kurumbas, Moola Kurumbas, Paniyas, Irulas and Kattu Nayakans -- have been celebrating December 5 as Adivasi Day since 1988, when they held a rally for land rights in Gudalur town. It was December 4, 1994, the eve of Adivasi Day, at Kadichenkolly, a …
LADAKHI tribals have started dreaming of going blonde, having blue eyes, owning 2 shiny cars and wearing skin-hugging jeans! There is a worrisome increase in the incidence of violence between Buddhists and Muslims, as well as within the communities themselves. The sole culprit, according to "Deep ecologist" Helena Norberg-Hodge, is …
THE inky blue waves of the Bay of Bengal wash the shores of one of the most beautiful archipelagos anywhere. But the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar (A&N;) Islands is much more than just a tourist destination. Housing the infamous Cellular Jail, Andaman had once symbolised colonial subjugation. But …
A RICH forest supporting the survival of the local tribal populace, a city girl in empathy, forest contractors and a foreign company eyeing the woods, and a young, diligent forest officer... the setting for conflict is ideal in Sai Paranjpye's film Papeeha. The girl agitates for the tribals' right to …
THE colonial myth that shifting cultivation, a traditional farming practice, is the hangover of a dying past still finds devotees from among the Indian bureaucracy. The draft Conservation of Forests and Natural Ecosystems Act proposed in 1994 seeks to give more teeth to the prohibitory powers of forest officers to …
THE low hum of conversation suddenly gives way to melody as the Banjara women break into song. A voice yells, "Don't sing, shout slogans!" and the air is rent with cries of "Yeh azadi jhooti hai" (This independence is a sham). This was the scene in front of the District …
THE term "non-wood forest produce" covers all forest products except timber. It includes seeds,flowers, gums, resin, bamboo, lac and fruits. Earlier called "minor" forest produce, its importance to tribal communities and its capacity for providing a sustainable source of self-employment to forest dwellers has been heavily underestimated so far, with …
Smallscale entrepreneurs like Gopal Soren from Raina village have found a quick and easy method to earn some money. Soren and 3 of his friends lease out 6 acres of asna (Terminalia tomentosa) or arjuna (Terminalia atiuna) forest from the government and set about producing tassar cocoons. Each of them …
I AM the law," said Bumble, the parochial beadle in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, terrorising his wards into submission. The ministry of environment and forests' new draft Conservation of Forests and Natural Ecosystems Act is packed with Bumblesian hauteur. Claiming to revise the highly-criticised Indian Forest Act of 1927, it …
"THE Range-wallahs want to kill us and our cattle to plant trees for the townspeople. Let the people in the towns plant trees on their own land," rages Punia Bhima, a wizened Bhilala tribal of Pujara Ki Chowki village in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. Bhima is a veteran …
When and why did you begin breeding crocodiles? Serious efforts at breeding crocodiles started at the Madras Crocodile Bank in 1975-76. Being a herpetologist (a person who studies reptiles) in those days meant that you stopped thinking about esoteric studies and started thinking about what you can do for an …
WHAT group irrigation management has done to Mahadapur is what water does to crops -- made it grow and flower. For the first time ever, the Kolam tribals of Mahadapur, an obscure village in the tribal-dominated Yavatmal district in southeast Maharashtra, harvested wheat and vegetables last year. This was a …
AVARICIOUS contractors, with the active connivance of forest officials and the local people, have indiscriminately felled teak trees in each of the 412 ha of the Mahadapur reserve forest. According to V B Salunke of GGP, at least 2 cartloads of teak wood from the forest has been taken to …
THE people of the Uttar Pradesh hills have always strongly opposed attempts to snatch their traditional rights. Today, they are asserting themselves once again. At various seminars and meetings organised recently, van panchayat members have consistently voiced their aversion to impositions by officials and have instead lobbied for greater autonomy. …
IN THE tranquil village of Kunya Khali in Uttar Pradesh"s Almora district, sarpanch Sunder Singh patiently waits for the monsoon. The village is one of many in Almora, Nainital, Pithoragarh and Chamoli areas that has nurtured a panchayati forest. Unknown to Sunder Singh, however, the monsoon may be accompanied by …
1893: The British notify all Himalayan wastelands as protected forests, provoking violent reactions among the people of Kumaon and Garhwal, who lose their traditional rights over forests. 1911-17: Additional areas are appropriated as reserve forests and given to the forest department. Protestors set several hectares of forests on fire. 1931: …
1931 1976 1993 Draft Notification Control over van panchayat Revenue department (RD) given administrative and technical controls RD retains administrative control while forest department (FD) has technical advisory role Administrative and technical powers vested with RD Powers of van panchayat 1. Van panchayat (VPs) can fine offenders Rs 5 2. …
HISTORY is an open book that generations of bureaucrats have steadfastly ignored. Civil servants have repeatedly tried to deny people -- especially tribals and hill people -- access to natural resources on which their very survival depends and in the process, invariably alienated them and caused the degradation of forest …
