Order of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Romila Thapar & Others Vs Union of India & Others dated 29/08/2018 regarding arrest of activists for their alleged Maoist links. Apex Court directs that the activists be kept under house arrest at their own homes. The next date …
In a bid to speed up development in naxal-affected areas, the environment ministry has decided to exempt public infrastructure projects from seeking forest clearance in 35 additional districts. In May 2011 the ministry said public infrastructure projects like schools, health centres, roads, bridges would not require clearance under the Forest …
Union minister for rural development JairamRamesh on Sunday said the Centre would spend Rs 145 crore on development of rural roads in the state. He said motorable roads would be provided to all habitations with a population of 250 and more. Jairam Ramesh told reporters here that the national rural …
In a bid to curb misreporting by states, the ministry of rural development on Monday approved changes to guidelines of the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) that allow flexibility to the states in identifying beneficiaries belonging to scheduled castes, tribes and minorities. Besides, the rural development minister Jairam Ramesh announced a …
Chhattisgarh Governor Shekhar Dutt has sought details from the State government on the declining population trends in six Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts of Koriya, Dakshin Bastar, Dantewada, Bijapur, Sukma, Jashpur and Kanker as reflected in the Provisional Census 2011 figures. The State government says while it would wait for …
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 …
Overall scheme likely to see Rs 10,000-cr cut in the coming Budget proposals The Cabinet today approved a Rs 38,500-crore allocation over five years for some projects under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. The overall scheme is expected to see a Rs 10,000-crore cut in the coming Budget proposals. …
In a bid to improve road connectivity in remote villages located in Naxal-affected areas and bordering districts, the Cabinet on Thursday approved a special provision of R38,500 crore under Pradan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to be allocated during the 12th plan period (20012-17). Besides, the Union Cabinet also approved …
“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 …
‘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 …
AnRak Aluminium is moving ahead with the bauxite mining project in Makavarapalem in Visakhapatnam district despite the local opposition warns this analysis in the Economic and Political Weekly with focus on social and environment impact of the project. A bauxite/aluminium project very similar to the Vedanta project in Odisha is …
A central plan for piped water supply through dual solar powered pumps will cover six panchayats in Saranda, with Union minister Jairam Ramesh closely monitoring progress to effect a promised turnaround at villages in the former rebel hub in West Singhbhum. According to a report prepared by the Union drinking …
Steel minister Beni Prasad Verma has cautioned environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan against holding up clearances for SAIL’s iron ore mines in Orissa and Jharkhand, saying this would force the state-owned steel giant to scale down operations and could stoke Naxal activity in the tribal region. Verma’s November 30 missive to …
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said solution to internal security threat does not lie merely in weeding out Naxals in security operations. Ramesh had called a group of Gandhians and activists working in Naxal-affected areas here to take home an 11-point charter of measures for implementation. The …
It is not just allocation of coal blocks that is being questioned. Just how misgoverned coal mining, and in fact the entire mining sector, is has emerged from a study sponsored by the Planning Commission. Focusing on four states, the study has found that illegal mining beyond the environment’s “carrying …
Putting the heat on Government to withdraw operation Green Hunt, the Naxals have now opposed the Mendha-Lekha model which allowed Tribals to exercise rights to harvest bamboo under the Forest Rights Act, terming at as a “ploy to loot forests”. The Gadchiroli Divisional Committee of the CPI (Maoists) have launched …
Battalions of para-military forces will stand guard around the naxal-affected mines of India’s iconic Bhilai steel plant as government workers slog it out in the pits. Twelve battalions of BSF, anti-naxalite Cobra force beside Chhattisgarh policemen will straddle the Rowghat iron ore mines in the state to ensure Steel Authority …
Gram sabha’s total control over forest produce makes ultras unhappy, reveal reports The government’s plan for economic empowerment of tribals to combat Left-wing extremism is yet to take off, despite the positive experience in Mendha Lekha in the Naxal affected Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. Notwithstanding legal guarantees, many village assemblies …
A movement promoting self-rule in villages and community rights to forests has come under attack from Naxals in the region where it was pioneered. Maoists in Gadchiroli have hit out strongly at leaders who have been using the “Gandhian” ideal of non-violence in spearheading the community forest rights (CFR) movement …
The Centre has sanctioned 2,389 projects under the Integrated Action Plan for the construction of 9,070 km of road at an estimated cost of Rs 3,387 crore in rural Bihar to mitigate the impact of naxal insurgency. Rural Works Minister Bhim Singh said that rural road projects with a specific …
