Latest news with #ScheduledTribes
Hindustan Times
20 minutes ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Parl panel flag violations in land acquisition
The Parliamentary standing committee on rural development flagged blatant violations of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013 in cases where land was acquired by undermining the authority of gram sabhas, people familiar with the May 28 proceedings in New Delhi said . Underhanded techniques, such as using forged signatures to manufacture consent, remained a key focus of the panel, which discussed land acquisitions for infrastructure development and industrial purposes, such as for mining bauxite and iron ore, without the mandatory clearances of gram sabhas. The committee discussed in depth at least nine cases from Odisha involving serious violations affecting the forest rights of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) in the implementation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, Land Acquisition Act and the Forest Rights Act intersect in several cases involving land acquisition in forested areas. 'In the last two-three years, many arbitrary decisions were taken on giving leases for bauxite mining in Kalahandi, Koraput, Rayagada districts and iron ore mining in Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts in Odisha. In all cases, the Land Acquisition Act 2013 was violated, where the governments had forcefully and fraudulently acquired lands across Fifth Schedule areas in the Constitution without the knowledge and consent of gram sabhas,' said a person part of the meeting. The standing committee recorded oral evidence from representatives of the department of land resources under the ministry of rural development on May 28, as well as from experts and other stakeholders, on the implementation and effectiveness of the Land Acquisition Act. The Act mandates prior and informed consent of the affected families, a social impact assessment before any rehabilitation, and importantly, the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups: members of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and OTFDs. The committee discussed at least nine instances of such violations across five districts in the state, including in Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj district, where in March this year, 43 tribal families' houses were bulldozed for an airstrip expansion project. '43 tribal families are living their daily life without proper rehabilitation. The district administration had issued a notice giving one month's time to vacate homes, but within six days of serving the said notice, their houses were bulldozed. A notice was issued to conduct a gram sabha, but it wasn't held. The land in question is grazing land where the villagers have been staying for more than 35 years…PMAY houses were constructed [in that land]…the villagers could have been consulted, and rehabilitation and proper compensation could have been offered till they agreed to shift for the expansion of one Air strip,' said a person part of the meeting, wishing anonymity. The person added that various Members of Parliaments (MPs) also pointed out that gram sabhas' consent was not taken as a norm across the country. The committee also discussed the fake gram sabhas allegedly held on December 8, 2023, for the diversion of forest lands for non-forest purposes in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts for bauxite mining in 10 villages. Another person part of the meeting said: 'None of villages where gram sabhas were allegedly held had any prior information about the proposals for forest diversion for the bauxite mines. However, we were told that the resolutions were fake, and it was shocking that gram sabhas were allegedly held on the same date and time across all the 10 villages and that the sarpanch or other government officials who have signed in gram sabha documents were also present in ten different places on the same time and date.' Officials present at the meeting told HT that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs had also sent a letter on this issue in March this year to the state government for a thorough examination. People aware of the matter said that inadequate compensation and rehabilitation under the Land Acquisition Act were also discussed in the meeting. 'The need for an immediate action from the central government for the implementation of all the special provisions under RFCTLARR Act 2013 for the rights of STs and other forest-dependent communities were also discussed,' said another official.
The Hindu
38 minutes ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
MHA notifies new policies for Union Territory of Ladakh that determine domicile tag
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday (June 3, 2025) introduced new policies on reservation, languages, domicile and composition of hill councils for the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh. These policies pave way to 85% of reservation for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in government jobs. Only citizens who have had a continuous 15-year stay in the region, beginning 2019, will be considered domiciles, according to a consensus reached at a high-powered committee meeting between civil society leaders and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials on May 27, 2025. Any 'outsider' who settled in Ladakh after its special status along with that of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was struck down in 2019 will be considered a domicile only after 2034. The J&K domicile policy notified in 2020 removed the concept of permanent residents stating that anyone 'who has resided for 15 years in the UT of J&K or has studied for seven years and appeared in Class 10th /12th examination in an educational institution located in the UT of J&K or who is registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants)' will be considered a domicile. According to the notification released by MHA, in a first, one-third of the seats will be reserved for women in the hill councils. English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhoti and Purgi languages shall be the official languages of the UT. Currently, at least 80% of vacancies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), 4% for people living along the Line of Actual Control/Line of Control, 1% for Scheduled Castes and 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). During the December 3 talks, the MHA had proposed a 95% reservation in government jobs for locals in Ladakh and a one-third reservation for women in hill councils. The HPC led by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai was first constituted in January 2023 to address the concerns of people in Ladakh. The talks broke down in March 2024. In October 2024, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk sat on an indefinite fast in Delhi to draw the government's attention to their demands, after which the MHA agreed to resume talks with civil society leaders from Ladakh on December 3, the same year. The next meeting was held on January 15, and the meeting on May 27, 2025, was the third round of dialogue after the talks resumed. After the special status of the former State of J&K under Article 370 was withdrawn in 2019, Ladakh has been protesting for constitutional safeguards to protect the language, culture and land in the region.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Deputy commissioner assures thorough probe into Dalit youth's death
Mandya: Deputy commissioner Kumara on Monday said a thorough investigation would be conducted regarding the death of Dalit youth Jayakumar from Katteraghatta village in KR Pet Taluk on May 17, and strict action will be taken against those found guilty. Speaking at the district-level awareness and oversight committee meeting held at the DC's office, regarding the implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015, and the 2016 rules, he said the act to prevent atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is in force and that people are being made aware of it. Evidence collected from the incident was sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory. An inquiry is also underway into why a complaint was not registered against the suspect a day before the incident. "No one is above the law, and appropriate legal action will be taken once the report is received," he said. The district administration visited the location and planned to provide benefits to the deceased's wife and children within the scope of the law. A compensation of Rs 8.3 lakh was sanctioned, of which Rs 4.2 lakh was given via cheque. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like O novo dispositivo que os idosos usam para ajudar na neuropatia (dor nos nervos) A arte do herbalismo Undo The remaining amount will be disbursed after the charge sheet is filed. Additionally, Rs 5,000 per month will be provided as a pension. The family owns 1 acre and 20 guntas in the deceased's name, and steps will be taken to update the land records and repair their house. Under the Ganga Kalyana scheme, a borewell will be drilled. The deceased is survived by two children. If their mother wishes, arrangements will be made to provide them free education under the special case category in either a nearby residential school or a reputed institution, he said. Superintendent of police Mallikarjun Baladandi said the charge sheet must be filed within 60 days of the FIR. Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation, the charge sheet will be filed, and legal action will be initiated against the guilty.
New Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Government committed to tribal welfare and Singareni expansion: Bhatti
KHAMMAM: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka reaffirmed the Congress government's commitment to tribal welfare and effective utilisation of sub-plan funds, contrasting its approach with that of the previous BRS administration. Addressing a meeting of Adivasi Congress party workers in Palvoncha town on Saturday, Vikramarka stated that the Congress government has allocated Rs 17,169 crore under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) Sub-Plan for the fiscal year 2025–26. An additional Rs 1,296 crore of unspent funds from previous years has been carried forward to ensure their proper utilisation. This approach, he emphasised, is designed to prevent diversion of funds and reinforces the government's focus on tribal welfare. Vikramarka also announced a Rs 6,000 crore self-employment scheme targeted at youth from SC, ST, BC, and minority communities. The programme includes financial assistance, skill development and entrepreneurship opportunities, offering concessional loans up to Rs 4 lakh with varying subsidy rates. It is expected to benefit around 5 lakh individuals in its first year. Later, after inaugurating the Singareni GM office and workshop, Vikramarka addressed the media, revealing plans to expand Singareni Collieries Company Limited on a global scale. "We are planning an expansion of Singareni. Experts have been appointed to collect information and draft recommendations. Once we receive their report, an action plan will be initiated,' he said.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Bamboo and kendu power to the people
Tucked away in the hills of Kalahandi in western Odisha, the tiny village of Palki is so remote that it is barely a dot on the map. With just 57 tribal households and no proper road or public transport, reaching Palki is a challenge. Here, no one has studied beyond class 8, and generations here have grown up in hardship. Making ends meet was a daily struggle. Over the past couple of years though, something has changed. Palki is now flushed with a community fund of ₹8 lakh. Alok Majhi, 27, the barely-schooled secretary of the Palki Gram Sabha, is looking for a teacher to tutor school-going children during the summer vacation, offering a monthly remuneration of ₹6,000, unthinkable just a few years ago. Two years ago, the villagers had struck a direct deal with a trader from Maharashtra, earning ₹26 lakh for two years of bamboo supply. Palki's transformation began when its people decided to take charge of forest resources — especially bamboo and kendu (used in bidis) — under the rights granted to them by the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The earlier system entailed government intermediaries that would regulate prices. Now, the village is writing its own story of change. Forty kilometres from Palki, and not as remote, Pipadi is another village nestled in Kalahandi's forested belt, that stretches across over 2,500 km. A paramilitary camp has just sprung up on its outskirts, reportedly to curb the movement of Maoist extremists. Between government and Naxal forces, Pipadi, with just 45 households, manages 4,300 acres of forestland on its own terms. For the past five years, Pipadi has been selling bamboo worth ₹5-7 lakh annually. It even issues its own transit passes for truckloads of bamboo headed to Telangana, an act of local governance rarely seen in such remote pockets. This stand is echoing across 100 villages in Kalahandi. Elsewhere too — though not yet as organised as in Kalahandi — forest dwellers in Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha are beginning to assert their rights over forest resources, challenging barriers long imposed by the Forest Department. In early May 2025, forest dwellers blocked National Highway 26 at Ampani in Kalahandi district after the Forest Department stopped movement of two kendu-leaf-laden trucks permitted by Borapadar and Pipalchhapar Gram Sabhas. Angered that the government had allegedly dishonoured the transit pass issued by the Gram Sabhas, Koksara Block Level Gram Sabha Federation registered a complaint with the local police. The first information report stated that the Forest Department had violated Section 3(1)(c) of the Forest Right Act (FRA), which confers ownership rights over forest produce like kendu leaf and bamboo to forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs). The agitation led by tribal women and men forced the Forest Department into issuing an assurance that they would not obstruct movement of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Timber is still controlled by the government. The Forest Rights Amendment Rules, 2012, state that transit permits for transportation of minor forest produce (MFP) such as bamboo and kendu leaves, are to be issued by a committee constituted by the Gram Sabha or a person authorised by the Gram Sabha. Palki has been selling bamboo between ₹30 and ₹40 per piece, taking into account the present and future. 'We have divided the forest managed by the Gram Sabha into four sections,' explains Alok, the Palki Gram Sabha secretary. 'We harvest bamboo from only one section each year, returning to the same section after four years. This allows for soil regeneration and prevents overexploitation.' One-third of the revenue goes directly to the bamboo cutters, who are villagers themselves. The remaining two-thirds is considered Gram Sabha profit, of which 50% is reinvested in forest development, 30% goes into a village fund, 10% covers village management costs, and 5% each is allocated to the block and district-level federations, he says. This year alone, Palki spent ₹2.5 lakh on bamboo regeneration and densification, using soil enrichment techniques at the root level. The effort created 635 labour days, 400 of which involved women workers, each paid ₹300 per day. This has stopped people in Palki from emigrating outside the State to work in the construction sector, say villagers, despite the fact that the minimum wage in Odisha for even unskilled work is ₹462 per day. Women working on bamboo bushes in the forests of Kalahandi district. Around 2,000 villagers work as bamboo cutters across 100 villages in the district. | Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT Today, around 9,000 women are engaged in kendu leaf plucking and 2,000 people work as bamboo cutters across 100 villages in Kalahandi. Their income helps them educate children, construct houses, and pay for weddings. Block- and district-level federations serve as mediators in resolving conflicts, especially those arising from disputes over forest boundaries. These federations help unify Gram Sabhas and step in when there is a need to confront the Forest Department or trader associations that create obstacles. Besides, continuous capacity building of villagers takes place out of the fund deposited with Gram Sabha, says Dasarathi Behera, advisor to the Kalahandi District Gram Sabha Federation. 'What better revenue model could a village with rich minor forest produce adopt?' says Dasarathi. 'Since the conferment of Community Forest Rights, tribal villagers have come to see the forest as their most dependable source of livelihood. This realisation has fostered sustainable forest management and improved conservation efforts.' Villagers must apply for these Community Forest Rights, which the government then grants. According to Geetanjoy Sahu, a professor at the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies, School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, rights for forest dwellers on forest resources should be seen in three phases. Before colonial rule in India, forest-dwelling communities across the country, including in Odisha, exercised traditional rights over forest resources. They followed customary norms of harvesting forest produce, practised shifting cultivation, and even hunted for food. This changed with the advent of colonialism. The British sought to appropriate forest resources for their own interests, introducing laws like the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. Post-independence, the Indian state retained colonial-era laws, with the justification that it would look after tribal welfare. The Forest Department was given authority to regulate and monitor forest use. Even access to minor forest produce was government-controlled, and communities were burdened with layers of regulation. 'Between 1947 and till the enactment of the FRA in 2006, tribal rights were repeatedly promised but rarely fulfilled. In many regions, communities were displaced without proper compensation or recognition of their rights,' says Sahu. He says that the turning point came with the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which recognised the rights of forest communities over minor forest produce, granting them ownership, access, and the freedom to sell it. 'They can choose where, to who, and at what price to sell. Maharashtra was the first to implement this in Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) regions, later expanding to non-PESA areas. Other States, including Odisha, were slower to act. Odisha's implementation began primarily in parts of Kalahandi district and remains limited,' he says. Tushar Dash, Director of Vasundhara, a non-government organisation dealing with implementation of FRA, says, 'The sale and trade of minor forest produce must be fully left to the discretion of forest villagers. They should have the autonomy to negotiate with traders or opt to sell through the Forest Department, depending on who offers a better price.' Y. Giri Rao, a consultant on FRA implementation to governments, agrees. 'There is ample evidence that when Gram Sabhas manage forests, they do so more effectively,' he says. 'Where communities have control, forest growth has flourished, fires are better managed, illegal logging has reduced, and the timber mafia has been kept out,' says Rao. Across Odisha, the struggle for ownership over forest resources is marked by confrontations between forest-dwelling communities and the Forest Department. Nearly every Gram Sabha has its own story of resistance and assertion. Although the FRA came into effect in 2006, it wasn't until seven years later — after the intervention by then Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh — that forest dwellers began to assert their rights. On March 3, 2013, the residents of Jamguda village in Kalahandi district were officially granted the right to sell minor forest produce. Ramesh had handed over the transit passbook to Union Tribal Affairs Minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo and Odisha Revenue Minister (late) Surya Narayan Patro. Bhakta Charan Das, then MP and now Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President, became the first official buyer, purchasing a truckload of bamboo for ₹3,000. The momentum grew. By 2017, six Gram Panchayats in Kalahandi had entered into direct agreements with bidi manufacturers to supply kendu leaves. This move inspired a wave of Gram Sabhas across the region to exercise their rights under the FRA, reclaiming control over traditional forest resources. Now, eight Gram Sabhas in Koraput district have demanded the removal of restrictions on the collection and sale of kendu leaves. 'Kendu leaf is a vital source of income for Adivasi communities in Baipariguda block. Known as 'Green Gold', it generates much-needed cash for forest dwellers. But despite repeated appeals, the Forest Department has shown little interest in deregulating its trade,' says Bidyut Mohanty, a Koraput-based activist. Byasadev Majhi (right), secretary of the Kalahandi Gram Sabha Mahasangha, issuing a transit pass for kendu and bamboo trucks at Pipadi village. | Photo Credit: BISWARANJAN ROUT The government-owned Kendu Leaf Organisation of Odisha has been gradually easing restrictions on the trade. In 2013, the State allowed pluckers, self-help groups, and other community collectives to sell kendu leaves to buyers of their choice in Nabarangpur district. This was followed by deregulation notices in 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2021, each applying to specific villages, blocks, or districts. 'We are surprised that the Forest Department hasn't extended this freedom across Odisha. Why restrict the trade of minor forest produce when villagers are capable of making their own decisions?' Mohanty says. The Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Odisha Limited (TDCCOL), a State-run agency, oversees procurement and implements minimum support prices (MSP) for minor forest produce. Currently, 23 items — including seeds from the sal and mahua trees, lac, and honey — are covered under MSP. Byasadev Majhi, Secretary of the Kalahandi Gram Sabha Mahasangha, says, 'We don't dismiss the role of government agencies, but communities should have the autonomy to decide how and where to sell their produce. The State should step in only if traders collude to manipulate the market.' satyasundar.b@ Edited by Sunalini Mathew Published - May 31, 2025 10:39 pm IST
