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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
Year Vilalge/police station Description 1953 Pipra Five thousand santhals perfromed Gopikandar bitlaha on a boy and a girl for having illicit sexual relations. Both their houses were damaged 1956 Kharibari The police had to open fire at Maheshpur; 20,000 Santhals assembled to perform the bitlaha for sexual intercourse between a …
WHEN Ganga Murmu, a 5-month pregnant Santhal tribal of Bhangabandh village in West Bengal's Medinipur district, was raped in February by the son of the landlord in whose field she used to work, the members of her community decided to take the law into their own hands. Instead of going …
KISKI Suraksha is a film made by Shree Prakash, who spent several months watching and documenting a movement in progress. Netarhat is a small but pretty hill station in the Palamau district of Bihar. In and around Netarhat, there are several tribes that have long been declared close to extinction …
A GROUP of adivasis in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, are confident that they will no longer be cheated by the patwari. Shedding centuries of mathematical ignorance, the tribals have grasped the concepts of the weights and measures, with the help of origami -- traditionally associated with creating beautiful figures by folding …
A FIERCE battle, albeit verbal, has broken out in the US between scientists and native Indians. The bone of contention is the remains of ancient Indians dating back to 800 BC, that lie in the Hall of Records, Annapolis, Maryland. The Indians want the bones of their ancestors back, so …
What have been the major sources of inspiration for your poetry? My experiences in my village. The school in which I studied was across the river from my village, and ferrying across was a normal thing, just as swimming was. Memories of the many moods of the river, the nights …
The Maldhari community of Saurashtra, reputed to be among the oldest inhabitants of this region, were traditionally livestock breeders, pastoral nomads roaming the wilds in search of the elusive green. This profile of the community exposes the havoc that environmental myths can wreak upon the lives of ordinary people. Pastoral …
MAYAN Indians are turning the tables on ranchers near Bachajon town in Mexico's Chiapas state. Just about 175 years after they were forced off their lands, the Indian supporters of the rebel Zapatista National Liberation Army have occupied more than 28,000 ha of their ancestral land around Bachajon. Cattle, food …
RAMPACHODAVARAM in the Eastern Ghats of the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh is where the Rampa Rebellion of 1879 started. Well-known in official circles as a punishment posting, these places have, of late, become challenging, especially for police personnel brought in to check growing Naxalite activities in the hills. …
INDIAN filmmakers have tackled the subject of Adivasis before, but the film under review this fortnight is the most ambitious in recent years. Tapan K Bose's Jharkhand was meant to be part of a trilogy, but the other two didn't get made because the filmmaker ran out of resources. Bose …
THE dismal state of aboriginal health has prompted both doctors and the government to make health care of the native Australians their top priority. Brendan Nelson, federal president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), has said aboriginal health is the "number one public health problem in Australia". According to AMA, …
BRITAIN is having a hard time reconciling its business interests and its self-professed environmental concerns. Although the British firm GEC-Alsthom has supplied turbine generators for China's Daya Bay nuclear power station near Hong Kong, the British establishment has vociferously protested against the setting up of the plant. There are fears …
Why were you chosen as a trainee? I was interested because of the money I could earn. Over a period of six months, 15 other poor women like me were trained. Are all of them caretakers of handpumps? No, only nine of us were assigned pumps. We undertake repair works …
Tribals in Chhotanagpur, living in questionable safety around the 188 sq km Netarhat Firing Range, are preparing to launch a protest movement against the proposed acquisition of their land by the army's 23 Infantry Division. The acquisition would displace about 100,000 inhabitants and periodically uproot another 150,000 during actual test …
