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 …
Democracy entails statutory safeguards against infringement of the inalienable rights of the people. But in the country today, the state of legislations protecting the people from wanton development is abysmal. Only Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Maharashtra have some kind of an act regarding resettlement and rehabilitation. In Karnataka, the Act …
What do you give to oustees who have been cleared away in the name of a developmental project? Take land, give land, says the government, without, however, seeming too eager to stick by its own cryptic formula. The Sardar Sarovar Project, for instance, guarantees every displaced adult (defined as a …
"We were thrown out in July 1974, during the rains. They didn't give us houses, or even money to build them. We took shelter under the trees," says Khudyan Singh Moravi, a Baiga tribal from Lonadhar, Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh. Moravi's only fault was that he had been staying within …
...cried the NGOs, oustees, social scientists and mass leaders in unison. Neither the secretive methods of the government nor the general policies laid down in the draft were acceptable to them. "It is a matter of shame that this draft policy is being formulated more for satisfying the conditions laid …
It seemed too good to be true. A recent order of the Karnataka government allowed the 650 tribal families living in a part of the Rajiv Gandhi National Park to collect minor forest produce to build homes within the forest. The order also initiated the process of setting up public …
Members of the Mescalero Apache tribe in New Mexico, us, have successfully warded off an us attempt to turn their land into a radioactive waste dump. In early February, representatives of the tribe voted down a proposal to store several thousand tonnes of spent nuclear fuel rods in the region. …
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 …
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 …
