Govt of India push for ‘commercially important’ invasive timber for afforestation to damage ecology, groundwater

The recently-released draft National Forest Policy (NFP), says a representation before the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), would adversely affect scheduled tribes, 90% of whom live in forest areas and intractable terrains, by turning them into migrant construction labourers by displacing them for the exploitation of minerals and other development projects. Read more

Courtesy: Counterview

Sundargarh Tribals Organised Public Meeting, Marched in a Protest Rally and Gheraoed District Collector demanding Implementation of 5th Scheduled, PESA Act 1996 and FRA, 2006

Sundargarh: Thousands of tribals coming across the district today organized a public meeting at Bhawani playground ,marched in a protest rally around the Sundargarh city and gheroaed the district Collector office demanding implementation of 5th Scheduled, PESA Act 1996 and FRA, 2006 under the banner of Adivasi Mulniwasi Adhikar Surakshya Manch(AMASM) and Adivasi Mulabsi Bachao Manch, Sundargah(AMBM). They gave slogan like “Gram Sabha Sarkar Zindabad”, “Hamara Gaaon me Ham Sarkar”, “Jo Jamin Sarkari Hai Wo Zamin Hamari Hai”, “Ladenge Zitenge” etc. Read more

Courtesy: Orissadiary.com

Mining children are nobody’s baby in Govt of India, ministry and laws are quiet on child rights, says representation

Raising a major policy issue, a top advocacy group, Mines, Minerals and People (MM&P) has regretted that the plight of the “mining children” is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, which looks after all the mines in India, and the result is a strange “mess”: the lives of children as a result of mining has to be addressed by other departments like child welfare, education, tribal welfare, labour, environment and others. Read more

Courtesy: Counterview

Children Don’t Smile in Dhanbad Villages – Their Water Is Poison

Sixty-eight-year-old Himanshu Chakrabarty of Brahman Tola village in Ghadbad panchayat of Dhanbad has only one desire – death. For more than 15 years, he has suffering from weak and deformed bones with almost no flesh on his body, limping around like a living skeleton. A sufferer of a crippling disease called fluorosis, which is caused due to an excess intake of fluoride, Chakrabarty wants an end to his pain. “I only want death,” he cries out in pain. “How much more do I have to suffer?” Read more

Courtesy: The Quint

How Dalit Women Farmers Across Marathwada Are Fighting Exploitation and Claiming Land Rights!

While the battles fought by the farmers of Marathwada are well documented, not many know about the relentless fight that marks the rise of Dalit women farmers in the drought-affected region.

To establish a context, the fight for land rights of Dalit farmers began under the leadership of the late Eknath Awad, one of India’s most respected Dalit leaders, across eight districts of Maharashtra including Jalna, Aurangabad, Latur, and Beed. Kantabai Ichake, a septuagenarian from Marathwada, has now emerged as one of the leading voices at the forefront of the land rights movement. Read more

Courtesy: The Better India

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