---

Tribals to leave for Kalinganagar rally (6)

BERHAMPUR: Tribals and peasants from districts of South Orissa have started arriving in the city to get

united to start their journey to attend the rally at Kalinganagar on January 2 to commemorate the first

anniversary of the death of tribals opposed to displacement in police firing there last year..The All India

Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS) andLok Sangram Manch are organising these rural activists in Berhampur

so that they can reach Kalinganagar in an organised manner. According to B.C.Sadangi, the national

commitee member of the AIKMS, around 1500 activists from districts of south Orissa would gather in

Berhampur by Sunday night to start for Kalinganagar on Monday. (The Hindu 1/1/07)

---

Tribute paid to victims at Kalinga Nagar (6)

Kalinga Nagar (Orissa), Jan. 2: Thousands of tribal people, nearly half of them women, on Tuesday

gathered at Ambagadia village near here, to pay tribute to 13 of their fellowmen who were gunned down

by the police during a displacement protest rally on this day last year. The congregation included over

5,000 delegates from neighbouring Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Bihar. The tribals were

killed as the police opened fire on them when they opposed the construction of boundary walls for Tata

Steel’s proposed six million tonne steel plant. Thirteen stone pillars erected at Ambagadia in memory of

the dead were formally unveiled. Although a year has elapsed since the incident, normalcy is yet to return

here. Chief minister Navin Patnaik has not yet visited Kalinga Nagar. The chief minister apprehends his

trip to the area might create anger among the affected tribals and result in widespread agitations in the

area. Interestingly, the Patnaik government has been projecting Kalinga Nagar as the steel hub. “The

government has stopped all dialogue with us after we had one with the chief minister six months ago. All

promises including withdrawal of cases against the tribals are forgotten. It’s the government and not us

who created this situation in Kalinga Nagar and people anywhere will rise in revolt whenever the

government behaves in such fashion,” leader of Bisthapan Virodhi Janmanch Ravi Jarika said. (Asian Age

3/1/07)

---

Tribals vow to oppose displacement (6)

KALINGA NAGAR: Thousands of tribals who attended a public meeting here on Tuesday to pay tributes to

the 13 persons killed in police firing in this industrial township in Orissa’s Jajpur district on January 2 last

year announced that they would oppose displacement across the country. No cultivable or forest land

should be handed over to private companies to set up industries or special economic zones either in

Orissa or any other part of the country, the tribals said. Alleging that the existing resettlement and

rehabilitation policies were `pro-industry,’ those present at the meeting vowed to continue their struggle

against displacement that was making people sacrifice their land and livelihood sources. More than

10,000 tribals and members of pro-tribal mass organisations and political outfits from Orissa, Jharkhand,

Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra attended the

meeting. They demanded that all States and the Centre stop transfer of tribal land in scheduled areas and

other areas to non-tribals and restore all unlawful alienation of land. To ensure this, stringent provisions

should be incorporated into the State and Central regulations. The meeting was organised by the

Bisthapan Virodhi Janmanch, which has been spearheading the anti-displacement agitation in Kalinga

Nagar since the police firing. The police opened fire when the tribals were agitating against the

construction of a boundary wall for a Tata Steel project. About the ongoing agitation by the tribals against

the project, the meeting decided no to allow the plant to come up in the area. (The Hindu 3/1/07)

---

Workshop for tribal youths held (6)

BERHAMPUR: To save the tribals from the corrupt practices during coming panchayat polls, a workshop

for tribal youths was organised at Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district on Monday by the organisation,

Mahila Vikas Samity. Sub-divisional panchayat officer of paralakhemundi, Chandrasekhar Moharana,

director of the Orissa Tribal Empowerment Project, Gopabandhu Das and others addressed the

workshop. (The Hindu 9/1/07)

---

Tribals oppose steel projects (6)

JAMSHEDPUR: Expressing their opposition to greenfield steel plants proposed to be set up by two

industrial groups in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district, tribal groups staged a protest here on Tuesday

and resolved they would not allow “a repeat of Nandigram” in the State. Led by heads of about 30 villages

in Potaka block, the tribals, including children and women, brandished bows and arrows and shouted

slogans during the protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office hereThe tribals are opposed to the

proposed projects of Jindal and Bhusan business groups. (The Hindu 10/1/07)

---

CM for Rs 30 cr sops to MP tribals (6)

Bhopal, Jan. 11: Having already given government employees a new year windfall and lakhs of pensioners

a reason to smile, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan offered a slew of sops worth Rs

30 crore annually for the state’s sizeable tribal populace. The announcements were made at an “adivasi

panchayat” organised at Mr Chauhan’s residence earlier this week. Provision for the funding, he said,

would be made in the next Budget. The panchayat was attended by over 2,000 tribal representatives and

leaders from all parts of the state. Among the sops announced was provision of TV sets with

direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast facility to all tribal student hostels in the state, hike in scholarship, free

toiletries, uniforms, bags and books for school going children, gift of at least three milk-giving livestock to

all families in 11 tribal-dominated districts under the Kaamdhenu project, housing facilities under the

Mukhya Mantri Awaas Yojana for those living below the poverty line and those staying in the state capital,

kisan credit cards for farmers, conversion of all forest villages into revenue villages and undertaking of

timely land surveys in rural areas, grant of land-owning pattas to all tribals staying in forest areas, adivasis

living in Dindori an Umaria were promised a polytechnic each in their district. Mr Chauhan also promised

to initiate development projects worth Rs 250 crore in adivasi areas. This would include opening of 25 new

health centres and 50 sub-health centres and alternative drinking water facilities in over 3,000 habitats.

State government sources said, the key to winning the confidence of tribals lay in granting land lease

rights to those who were tilling the land till as late as 2005. Linked to it was the conversion of forest

villages into revenue villages. This would give them the privilege of land ownership and inoculate them

against the danger of being driven out of their holdings. Presidential assent to the amendments made in

the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, recently passed by the Parliament was awaited. The sources argued

that though there was a lurking fear in many quarters that forest areas could be effectively denuded of

their green cover (which was not entirely unjustified), granting tribals land-holding rights on the soil they

laboured was overdue. The process of the above “conversion” had been begun by former Prime Minister

Atal Behari Vajpayee. The good thing was that since Assembly polls were still two years away, nobody

could claim that the sops had an electoral motive. (Asian Age 12/1/07)

---

Tribals in no mood to end blockade (6)

BHUBANESWAR: Despite High Court’s directive to the State Government to remove the blockade from

National Highway No. 200 at Kalinga Nagar, the Jajpur district administration has not been able to

implement the order so far. With the administration failing to convince the agitating tribals to end their

agitation, the deadlock continues. The tribals who have been spearheading the agitation since the police

firing on January 2 last year are in no mood to remove the blockade. The office-bearers of Visthapan

Virodhi Janmanch, the organisation which has been spearheading the agitation, are of the view that they

would not lift the blockade till the Government fulfilled their demands. In its order passed on January 5, a

division bench of the High Court had directed the State Government “to take effective steps for removal

of the blockade over the said highway immediately”. In their efforts to pacify the tribals, the district

authorities had held a meeting with some representatives of the Janmanch on Wednesday. However, the

Janmanch people sought time for a full-fledged meeting at a later date. “We are trying our best to

implement the High Court by persuading the tribals to remove the blockade,” Jajpur Superintendent of

Police Asit Panigrahi said. Mr. Panigrahi said the next meeting with the tribals was likely to take place on

January 17 or 18 to sort out the matter. “We are hopeful that the tribals would agree for removal of the

blockade in view of the High Court order,” he said. Although the High Court has made it clear in its order

that the district administration was at liberty to take appropriate measures under the law to remove the

blockade, the authorities are so far restraining themselves from using force to clear the blockade as the

same may aggravate the situation. The tribals have been blocking the highway since last year demanding

action against the officials who were present during the police firing in which 13 tribal men and women

were killed while opposing construction of the boundary wall for a proposed steel project of Tata Steel.

(The Hindu 13/1/07)

---

Lower castes are genetically closer (6)

Hyderabad, Jan. 14: People belonging to lower castes are genetically closer to tribal groups then they are

to upper castes, a study conducted by the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology

(CCMB) has discovered. Experts from the CCMB believe that this adds credence to the theory that lower

castes emerged from tribal populations. A senior scientist at the centre, Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj, said

the origin of the caste system in India has been the subject of heated debate among anthropologists and

historians. Many of them had suggested that the caste system began with the arrival of speakers of Indo

European languages from Central Asia about 3,500 years ago. “However, there has been no consensus

on this so far,” he added. In the latest study, CCMB scientists analysed the Y-chromosome and

mitochondrial DNA of three tribal populations of southern India and compared the results with the

available data from across the Indian subcontinent. They did not find any significant difference in

mitochondrial DNA among Indian tribal and caste populations. On the other hand, the study of the

Y-chromosome lineage revealed distinct distribution patterns among caste and tribal populations. “The

paternal lineage of Indian lower castes shows closer affinity to the tribal populations than to upper castes,”

said Dr Thangaraj. A significant aspect of the study is that its Y-SNP data provides compelling genetic

evidence for the tribal origin of the lower caste populations. It gives substance to the theory that lower

caste groups may have emerged from hierarchical divisions existing within the tribal groups much before

the arrival of the Aryans. Indo-Europeans may have established themselves as upper castes over this

already developed caste-like class structure within the tribes. Indian society has been subject to multiple

waves of migration in historic and prehistoric times. The first was the ancient Palaeolithic migration by

early humans. This was followed by the early Neolithic migration, probably of proto-Dravidian speakers.

About 3,500 years ago, the Indo-European speakers arrived. “Indian tribal and caste populations emerge

from the genetic heritage of Pleistocene southern and western Asians,” said Dr Thangaraj. “At the same

time, the paternal lineage of Indian castes is more closely related to the Central Asians.” (Asian Age

15/1/07)

---

K Nagar solution not likely before April (6)

Bhubaneswar : Even though the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Manch has expressed its keenness to hold talks

with the State Government in the wake of the recent Orissa High Court direction for withdrawal of the

yearlong road blockade at Kalinga Nagar, there seems to be a remote possibility of the blockade on

National Highway-200 coming to an end before April. This is indicated in a letter sent by the Jan Manch to

the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The tribal leaders have apparently given a veiled message to the State

administration that they would not lift the road blockade unless their three-point charter of demands are

fulfilled. But the question is that whether the Government could meet the demands to pave the way of

lifting of the blockade. The tribals’ demands are: (1) the then District Collector Saswat Mishra and SP

Binaytosh Mishra must be prosecuted. The Government must initiate criminal proceedings against the

officers under Section 302 (murder) of IPC for the killing of 13 tribals. (2) All types of cases against tribals,

including those on murder charges, must be withdrawn. The criminal cases have been filed against more

than 100 people in the wake of the January 2, 2006 police-firing incident, in which the tribals were killed.

(3) The Government at the “highest level” must declare that there should be no more displacement in the

Kalinga Nagar area. However, sources said that the Government is in no mood to fulfil the demands. “This

is because it is impossible to withdraw charges like murder, arson and rioting,” said a senior official. This

apart, the Government also cannot initiate proceedings against the then SP and Collector due to the

simple reason that they were asked to ensure the land acquisition and also because a judicial commission

is inquiring into the incident. If the Government starts a dialogue with the agitating tribals in January itself,

it will automatically take some time, at least 15 days, to persuade them not to press for their demands.

This may linger the road blockade lifting process till February. Thereafter, a senior officer pointed out, the

Government cannot spare time because it would remain busy in panchayat polls till March-end. (Pioneer

16/1/07)

---

ST woman’s poll papers ‘torn by BJD supporters’ (6)

Kendrapara : Some BJD supporters on Monday allegedly tore the nomination paper of a Scheduled Tribe

woman, Uma Pata, who was filing her nomination on behalf of the Congress for the post of Panchayat

Samiti member for Chandiagadia Gram Panchayat at Aul block office. The BJD supporters also allegedly

attacked her supporters. According to police sources, as Patra was about to file her candidature, BJD

supporters, allegedly led by Bhisma Mohanty, came to the block office and forcibly took the nomination

paper from her and tore it. District Congress president Debendra Sharma said the post of the Panchayat

Samiti member is reserved for ST women at Chandiagadi GP and Patra was the only candidate. Official

sources, however, said Patra was not allowed to file her paper by the BDO because she arrived late for

filing the nomination. Tension prevailed in the bock office premises as supporters of both parties attacked

each other. Police force was deployed there to avert any untoward incident. Patra, along with Sharma and

her supporters, lodged an FIR at Aul Police Station against the BJD supporters. The police were

conducting an inquiry into matter, but no arrest has been made so far, informed OIC of Aul PS Subash

Panda. The matter has also been brought to the notice of the District Magistrate, SP, the State Election

Commission and the State Government. (Pioneer 16/1/07)

Jharkhand Ministers patronise tradition of cock fights (6)

Ranchi : Cockfight is inextricably associated with the tribal tradition of Jharkhand and even these days it is

a big medium of entertainment. On Sunday two Jharkhand Ministers were busy in cockfight in the steel

city of Jamshedpur. Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahto and Land and Revenue Minister Dulal

Bhuiya were encouraging their fowl to dominate on other and hurt them. They were not cockfight

watchers. Rather they were keeping the cock and pushing them to fight. Mahto was attired in a typical

India politician Dhoti and Kurta and Bhuiya was in trousers and coat. It seems that both the Ministers who

belong to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) were easing their tension as their chief Shibu Soren is cooling

his heels in a murder cases. They declined to comment about their interest when media persons queried

about the fight. Cockfighting is a tradition of tribal society for times immemorial. It is popular in many parts

of the State and people take the fight as a big medium of entertainment. They like to watch the method of

attack of the fowl on each other and love and enjoy the injuries caused to the rival fowls. The game ends

when a fowl dies or sustains serious injuries in the fight. In Ramgarh the fight is still part and parcel of

tribal people. Before the final fight the cocks are prepared for it. “Before the scheduled fight we keep the

cock in a dark room for one week. Cocks are kept in dark to ignite their anger. And on the day of fight no

food is served to them so that their anger goes on its peak,” said Shivanandan, owner of a cock. He said

“cloves are given to cocks keep them warm. The fight continues till one cock sustains serious injuries or

dies.” Owners of these cocks say that the foul which are used for fighting are kept away from the groups.

They are prepared to gain stamina and strength to defeat the opponent. During a fight the sharp knives

are fitted on the legs of the cocks to hurt the opponent. They are taught the ways to attack and to defend

during fight. “I regularly watch cockfights. It gives us immense pleasure and we enjoy the fight. This is our

medium of entertainment,” said Ganesh Kumar, a resident of Ramgarh. Animal lovers oppose such fights

but when lawmakers are involved in such fights then who will dare to prevent the game. (Pioneer 16/1/07)

---

Jharkhand to take up tribal seats issue with PM, President (6)

Ranchi ; The Jharkhand Government has decided to approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and

President APJ Abdul Kalam over recommendation of the delimitation commission to reduce the number of

tribal seats in the Assembly. The Delimitation Commission in its recommendation has said that the

reserved tribal seats in Jharkhand Assembly should be reduced to 21 from the existing 28. Leaders

across party lines have agreed to approach the PM and President over the issue and request them not to

implement the recommendation. The leaders of all the political parties are unanimous about the number of

seats but mudslinging has also started on the issue. “Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda had not taken

the issue seriously and he did not feel right to approach the Prime Minister and President over the issue,”

said Chief Minister Madhu Koda. The Tribal Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting held in Ranchi on

Tuesday authorised the Chief Minister to take up the issue with the PM and President. The meeting

expressed concern over the recommendation and demanded that Jharkhand should be given status like

Tripura where the number of reserved seats did not change even if the tribal population goes down. “In

1951 the number of reserved seats in the Assembly was 32, which was reduced to 28 in 1971 and now it

is to be reduce to 21. If this trend continues then in future there will be no reserved seats for the tribal

people,” said Koda. The TAC members wanted the same number of reserved seats even if the population

declines. “The recommendation of the Delimitation Commission is a matter of serious concern. A law

should be framed to protect the reserved seats for the tribal people,” said former Chief Minister Babulal

Marandi. Taking a dig at his own Government, senior BJP leader Karia Munda said, “I was never

consulted on the issue. A team of Ministers was formed during the NDA regime but what they did I could

not tell.” Even BJP tribal legislators are unhappy with their previous Government. “The silence of our two

Chief Ministers caused the problem,” said Ramchandra Baitha, a BJP legislator. (Pioneer 18/1/07)

---

Report recommends withdrawal of Salwa Judum (6)

NEW DELHI: Attributing the significant increase in incidence of violence against women in Chhattisgarh’s

Dantewara district to Salwa Judum, the Committee Against Violence On Women (CAVOW) has called for

a review of the Government’s counter-insurgency strategy. Salwa Judum was initiated by the Government

in June 2005 as a people’s movement against terrorism and naxalism. In a report `Salwa Judum and

Violence on Women in Dantewara’, the group has documented cases of violence and abuse against

women in the State. The report, submitted to the National Commission for Women, highlights the

atrocities perpetrated by the Salwa Judum activists. Released here on Thursday by writer-activist

Arundhati Roy, the report points out the absence of health and education facilities in the district. Speaking

at the release function, Ms. Roy said, “This is a disturbing document and the business of setting up

vigilante groups is infusing the country with violence.” She criticised the Government’s policies and said,

“We are entering an era where we have to become a police or an army state and they will become the

implementers of the great Indian growth rate dream.” Ms. Roy was also critical of the Special Economic

Zones being set up and agricultural land being given to corporates at subsidised rates. Referring to the

report, convenor of CAVOW Shoma Sen said, “At the initiation of CAVOW, a team visited the area

between September 30 and November 18, 2006, to investigate the conditions of safety, security, life and

livelihood of tribal women.” Claiming that Salwa Judum, which was built for restoring peace in the area has

instead proved to be a violent institution, CAVOW member and researcher Ilina Sen said, “Women have

been raped and molested, dole being given out to people is insufficient, ration does not last for the whole

week, international organisations working out of the area have documented that there is malnutrition and

hunger, minors are being recruited as Special Police Officers and under-trial women in jails are victims of

sexual abuse.” Echoing the view that Salwa Judum has failed to deliver, NCW Chairperson Prof. Malini

Bhattacharya said: “Strange things are happening there in the wake of Salwa Judum. Villages are

deserted and whatever little civic amenities are available are in the relief camps, SPOs are underage and

have been alienated from normal life. Though we have no direct evidence of violence against women, our

team met women lodged in prisons who have been abused. These village women claim they have been

accused of having links with naxals.” (The Hindu 19/1/07)

---

Tribals attack two surveyors (6)

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 18: Orissa’s steel hub Kalinga Nagar is once again in tur moil. Two people, who

reportedly claimed to be land surveyors appointed by a leading steel firm, were injured as tribals attacked

them on , Wednesday evening. The district administration was not aware of the pres ence of any survey

team in the volatile area. “No prior intimation was given to us. This is a troubled area and the industrial

house concerned is .responsible for such recklessness,” said a harried senior district offi cer. There was

utter confu sion over who had engaged the Geo Designers, a survey organisation, to work on land that had

been allotted to Maharashtra Seamless. However, Maharashtra Seamless had abandoned the area after

persistent law and order problems and the same plot was to be allotted to the Tatas. While agitated locals

and the district authorities said the survey ors were working for the Tatas, the company sources insisted

that they too were unaware of the team’s pres ence on the spot on Wednes day. The fresh incident, ironically,

comes within 24 hours of a high-level meet ing held on Tuesday in Bhubaneswar where Kalinga

Nagar industrialists had raised issues of law and order and the Orissa govern ment had assured them of a

proper working atmosphere. The Wednesday incident took place when five people reached Kalamatia

village in the Kalinga Nager Industrial Complex area on Wednes day afternoon and started some work,

including alleged blasting of a broken abandoned structure. Hearing noise, people rushed to the spot and

assaulted the survey team. While two of the team sus tained injuries, three others, including driver of the

vehi cle, fled from the spot. (Asian Age 19/1/07)

---

Naveen calls tribals for dialogue (6)

BHUBANESWAR: Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday offered to hold talks with the

agitating tribals of Kalinga Nagar, the upcoming industrial hub in Jajpur district of the State. The dialogue

between the Chief Minister and representatives of the Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch will take place on

January 31 “without any pre-condition.” The talks will be held at the State Secretariat. The Janmanch has

been continuing with its road blockade agitation on the Daitari-Paradip national highway at Kalinga Nagar

since January 2 last year when 13 tribals were killed in police firing while opposing construction of the

boundary wall for the proposed steel plant of Tata Steel. A letter about Mr. Patnaik’s readiness to hold

talks with the Kalinga Nagar tribals was sent from the Chief Minister’s Office to Jajpur district Collector

Arabinda Kumar Padhee on Wednesday. Mr. Padhee has been asked to inform about Mr. Patnaik’s

decision to the Janmanch leaders. “The Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch is welcome to have discussion on

any issue without any pre-condition,” the letter from the Chief Minister’s Office said. Secretary of the

Janmanch Rabindra Jarika had earlier written a letter to Mr. Patnaik expressing the organisation’s

readiness for a meaningful and sincere discussion that could lead to an “appropriate settlement of the

issue.” Expressing apprehension that the district administration may resort to use of force for lifting the

road blockade in view of the recent High Court order asking the government to put an end to the

roadblock agitation, Mr. Jarika had warned that the authorities should not take any step that would make

the people lose their faith in the government. (The Hindu 25/1/07)

---

Jailed tribal leader’s wife cries foul (6)

Koraput: “My husband is not a naxalite,” says Nachika Tikai, wife of Nachika Linga. Leader of Chasi Muli,

an organisation fighting for the land rights of tribals at Podapadar panchayat in Narayanapatna block of

Koraput district, Nachika Linga was arrested by the police on the charge of having connections with

naxalites, she told a team of journalists at Podapadar. “Being a leader of the masses, landlords perceived

threat from him,” she said, and added that he was only part of the movement creating awareness among

people on land rights. Rabindra Linga, the 10-year-old son of Nachika Linga, pleaded for release of his

father. (The Hindu 25/1/07)

---

Panel frowns at neglect of tribals (6)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Scheduled Tribes Commission chairperson Kunwar Singh has taken

exception to what he terms relative neglect of Scheduled Tribes by the State Government. Mr. Singh, who

visited tribal hamlets in different parts of Kerala, told a news conference here on Wednesday that the

benefits of various welfare schemes meant for Scheduled Tribes were not reaching the target group. He

had visited Kerala under the impression that being highly literate, the State might be providing better

protection to the tribal population as compared to other parts of India, but he had found the situation in the

hamlets deplorable, Mr. Kunwar Singh said. He said the tribal hamlets were lacking in proper medical

facilities, drinking water supply, power and roads. Many of the tribes were finding it difficult to cultivate in

their lands as the land they had in possession was not cultivable. There was also large-scale alienation of

tribal lands. On top of all this, the Government had imposed taxes on them. The Government should

devise schemes for better land utilisation by the tribal population and to provide more credit to them from

the cooperative sector, he said. Mr. Kunwar Singh pointed out that even students from Scheduled Tribes

with high marks in the qualifying examinations were not getting adequate number of seats for MBBS

courses as the cut-off marks of entrance examinations had been fixed at a higher level. The Madhya

Pradesh Government had lowered the cut-off mark of entrance examinations in the case of Scheduled

Tribes. Kerala could also examine whether this could be done, he added. He regretted the failure of

representatives of several State departments to attend the review meeting he had convened to discuss

the problems faced by the Scheduled Tribes. Although all the departments were supposed to send their

representatives to the meeting, only Tribal, Health and Excise Departments were represented at the

meeting. This showed the attitude of the bureaucracy towards the problems of the Scheduled Tribes, Mr.

Kunwar Singh said. (The Hindu 25/1/07)

---

Tribals agree to come for talks (6)

BHUBANESWAR: The agitating tribals of Kalinga Nagar on Saturday decided to hold a formal dialogue

with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on January 31. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Visthapan

Virodhi Janmanch, the organisation that has been spearheading the agitation since January 2 last year.

However, sources in official circles said the Janmanch leaders might take a rigid stand on their demands

when they finally come for discussion and the dialogue may not achieve the expected results. But Jajpur

district Collector Arabinda Kumar Padhee said the administration was hopeful of a peaceful resolution of

the issue. “We are expecting a positive outcome,” he said. The Janmanch had earlier written a letter to

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressing its willingness to hold talks with the government at the highest

political level in the wake of a High Court order directing the government to remove the road blockade on

Daitari-Paradip highway near Kalinga Nagar. Responding to the Janmanch offer, the Chief Minister’s

Office had written a letter through the district Collector that Mr. Patnaik was ready to hold dialogue to put

an end to the agitation. The Janmanch had been continuing with the road blockade agitation since 13

tribals were killed in police firing last year while opposing construction of a boundary wall for a proposed

steel of Tata Steel. (The Hindu 28/1/07)

---

Minister visits Adivasi Mela (6)

Bhubaneswar : Good sense at last prevails on SC and ST Minister Chaitanyaa Prasad Majhi. On Monday,

he visited the all the stalls at the Adivasi Mela. Majhi went there at afternoon and moved around all the

stalls for around one and half hour. Sources said as Majhi did not go the stall on the inaugural day on the

Republic Day, tribals expressed their resentment. It is a customary that the SC and ST Minister should

visit all the stalls and encourage the tribals, who have come form far-flung areas to the State Capital to

show case their rich culture and tradition. The tribals also gifted some items to the ministers. Majhi also

purchased some items from the Adivasi Mela. (Pioneer 30/1/07)

---

Miscarriage, stillbirths after uranium mining (6)

Jadugoda (Jharkhand), Jan. 29: Several hundred adivasis in Jharkhand are reportedly paying an

extremely heavy price for India’s nuclear ambitions. A visit to Jadugoda village, 35 km from the steel city

of Jamshedpur, in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district makes that evident. In Jadugoda, home of the

country’s first uranium mine, where the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) started mining in 1967,

almost each and every family is suffering from mental and physical disorders of one or the other kind.

Women over 30 are about to turn barren. An extensive study conducted by the Jharkhand Organisation

Against Radiation (JOAR) a few years back, one of the few such exercises to be conducted in the tribal

heartland, threw up hair-raising figures. Some 47 per cent of women living close to the uranium mines

reported disruptions in their menstrual cycle while another 18 per cent adivasi women had sudden

miscarriages and stillbirths. It was also reported that around 30 per cent of adivasis reported some sort of

problem in conception, while a majority of local women complained of fatigue, weakness and depression.

Children are next. Five-year-old Gudiya is one of the “victims” of radiation. Managing to come out of her

mother’s womb alive, after her mother had five miscarriages, Gudiya now cannot walk and cannot talk.

Her limbs are distorted and she is mentally challenged. “This is not just the tale of my daughter, there are

many children in the village who have met the same fate,” says Mangal, the girl’s father. Subsequent

surveys by a few other NGOs also claim that children living in more than two dozen villages surrounding

the uranium mines have also shown signs of mutation. While walking through the narrow lanes in this

tribal-dominated village, one can easily spot children with twisted limbs and mutilated body parts sitting on

the lap of their mother, quietly and curiously looking at every stranger passing by. Even the adults are

hesitant to mix freely with “outsiders”, specially when someone asks what had happened to their child.

According to a rough estimate, UCIL, which is under the department of atomic energy, acquired 2,000

acres of land at Jadugoda and established a township, displacing five villages. According to the 1961

census, the total population of these villages was 2,047, of whom 47.1 per cent were tribals. Many

indigenous tribal families have also been displaced from their ancestral land owing to the construction of

mines and mills in nearby Bhatin, Turamdih and Narwapahar. Bapi Da, a local activist leading the

campaign against health hazards, says: “Not only women and children, but the workers who get into the

mines to dig out uranium ore and man the tailing ponds where the waste generated from the mills is

dumped suffer from serious ailments like bone, blood and kidney disorders, brain damage and nausea.”

According to him, the kit to measure the effect of radiation on the bodies of workers, which UCIL used to

be provide to every worker earlier, was later taken away; and the medical records of workers who fall ill

and get admitted to the hospital run by the corporation are kept secret. (Asian Age 30/1/07)

---

180 people reconverted to Hinduism (6)

Bhubaneswar : Keeping an eye on the third World Hindu Religious Conference, which will begin on

February 11 in Allahabad, the State unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday reconverted at least

180 people from 50 families to Hinduism under the Bonai Police Station area in Sundargarh district.

According to VHP sources here, all the families were reconverted amidst performing of traditional Hindu

rituals at the Jagyan site, where several VHP leaders were present. Early in January 2006, nearly 136

tribals were reconverted to Hinduism at a function organised by the local unit of the VHP and the Bajarang

Dal at a remote village in Tumbei under Gurundia police station in Sundargarh. It was again followed by

reconverting at least 336 persons of 80 tribal families in 11 villages under Sundargarh district at a special

function in Baridia last October. Similarly, at least 73 persons from 17 families in Rourkela on the occasion

of Kartik Purnima were reconverted into Hinduism. On October 24, 2004, 300 Tribal Christians were

reconverted to Hinduism in Sundargarh district. According to a statistics, more than 8,000 people were

reconverted in 2006 while Parishad has planned to strengthen its women wing Durga Bahini and youth

wing Bajarang Dal. Besides it has also decided to carry out more reconversion activities in the tribal

dominated regions of the State, where conversion is a war between the Christian Missionaries and

Sangha Pariwar. Meanwhile VHP sources admitted that the reconversion is on the active agenda in

Sundergarh district. “We are planning to do it more intensively and in a well-coordinated manner,” VHP

insiders said. In the past four years, more than 2,000 tribals have gone through the process of “home

coming”. “They are not Christians but they are Hindus in fact and don’t call it conversion as we are just

bringing them back to the fold of their ancestors’ religion,” argued VHP activists. (Pioneer 30/1/07)

---

Kalinga tribals to meet CM to end stalemate today (6)

Jajpur : A 17-member team of the Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch will meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik

on Wednesday at the State Secretariat to discuss the Kalinga Nagar issue. The rift among the activists of

the Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch, on Tuesday was amicably settled after a long meeting at Ambagadia. An

emergency meeting was called to discuss the issue over the Chief Minister’s invitation to end the

stalemate in Kalinga Nagar that has been continuing over the last one year. In the meeting, there was an

angry exchange of words between two factions after Janmanch Secretary, Rabindra Jarika said he had

not given any statement on the action of political parties who stood by the tribals during the agitation. He

also said that his signature on the Press release issued by the CPI (ML), New Democratic leaders, was

false. Responding to the Chief Minister’s invitation, Janmanch submitted a list of 17 members to the Jajpur

collector for tomorrow’s meeting at the State Secretariat. However, five members out of the list under the

leadership of the president of the outfit were threatening to boycott the meeting. Janmanch president,

Chakradhar Haiburu (senior) said that he and many of its members have decided to boycott the meeting

over the alleged remarks on political parties who stood by the tribals during the agitation. In an exclusive

interview, Janmanch President, Haiburu (senior) said, “Janmanch has been formed for the interest of the

agitating tribals fighting against industrialisation. We are leading the outfit on behalf of them. The innocent

tribals have reposed faith in us. Without consulting them we must not say any thing publicly.”He further

said “As I am ill following a minor operation, names of all office bearers and executive members of the

Janmanch except me are included in the 17 member list”. It may be noted that only few days ago

Janmanch secretary, Rabindra Jarika in association with CPI (ML) and New Democracy leaders had

termed the Congress as well as Left parties as enemies and equating them with the ruling BJD-BJP

coalition. (Pioneer 31/1/07)

TRIBALS

---

Allot pattas to tribals, demands Jamuna Devi (6)

Bhopal : Leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi said on Monday that the Madhya Pradesh Government would

no longer displace the tribals after the passing of the Tribal Bill, 2006. She urged the Chief Minister to allot

patta to the displaced people from the forestlands. She also informed that the Central Government would

soon issue an Ordinance in this respect. Jamuna Devi also congratulated Prime Minister Manmohan

Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi for constituting the Act in favour of the tribals. In a letter to

the CM, she also asked the State Government to allot pattas to those tribals who were displaced after

1980. She asked the CM to take back the cases pending in the High Court against the tribals for

unlawfully capturing the forestlands.She sent the document of the Act to the party presidents of district

and block levels asking them to generate awareness among the tribals regarding the ‘historical’ act for

them so that the State Government can’t mislead them any more. (Pioneer 6/2/07)

---

Tribals protest against SC order

Jaipur, Feb. 7: Tension prevailed in Rishabdeo town of Udaipur district on Wednesday when tribals

assembled to claim Risabdeo temple. The police resorted to lathicharge and lobbed teargas shells to

disperse the mob. Over 20 people, most of them policemen, were injured in stone-pelting. The tribals

agitated when they heard that the temple would be handed over to the Jain community following a court

order, though the Jain community clarified that it would maintain the existing management system and

tribals would be free to offer prayers the way they used to in the past. According to sources, the tribals on

Wednesday used the traditional system of beating drums, also considered an emergency call for

assembling for action. The tribals, armed with arrows and stones, then descended over the town and

clashed with the police. The violent mob went on the rampage and three vehicles, including a car, were

put on fire. The police opened fire in the air to control the mob and staged a flag march in the town. “The

situation is under control and an additional police force has been deployed in the area,” said Mr Rajiv

Dasot, inspector-general of police, Udaipur. (Asian Age 8/2/07)

---

Five injured in police firing in Udaipur (6)

JAIPUR: Five persons were injured on Thursday in police firing as tribals continued their protest against

the handing over of its principle temple to the Jain community in Rishabhdeo town in Udaipur district.

Police had to open fire when over 5,000 tribals tried to enter the Kesariaji temple. The situation has been

tense since Wednesday when a `mahapadav’ was organised by the tribals. Over 30 people, mostly

policemen, including the Udaipur SP M.N. Dinesh were injured on Wednesday when the protesters pelted

stones, torched two-wheelers and cars parked in the temple area and held up traffic for several hours.

Two Rajasthan Armed Constable companies and two Rajasthan Police companies have been deployed in

the area to maintain law and order, Mr. Dinesh told PTI over phone. Police used teargas to disperse the

tribals who pelted stones at them. So far 26 people have been detained by the police, Mr. Dinesh said.

The tribals, who worship the temple’s presiding deity as “Kala Baba,” are irked over a Supreme Court

ruling last month transferring the ownership rights of the ancient temple to the Jain community. (The Hindu

9/2/07)

---

Rajasthan town tense after 1 killed in temple violence (6)

Jaipur, February 9: A day after one person was killed and seven injured in clashes between tribals and the

police over the Supreme Court’s granting of an ancient temple to the Jain community, the town of

Rishabdeo was tense for a third consecutive day on Friday with stone-pelting protestors torching a shop in

the nearby village of Kalyanpur. Tribals in Rishabdeo in Udaipur district had yesterday tried to forcibly

enter the 15th century Kesariaji temple, a popular Jain pilgrimage site, saying the Supreme Court’s order

in January to hand over the temple administration to the Jain community would restrict their access to the

temple whose deity they worship as ‘Kala Baba’. As hundreds of tribals tried to force their way into the

temple, police opened fire, killing one person and leaving seven injured. On Wednesday, the tribals held a

‘mahapadav’ and went on to torch vehicles parked outside the temple, pelting stones at the police. Over

30 people, mainly policemen, were injured in the melee. Rajiv Dasot, IG Udaipur Range, said a

peace-committee of Jain and tribal representatives along with political leaders and local administrative and

police officers met on Thursday midnight and agreed to maintain peace. District Collector Shikhar Agarwal

said the situation is now under control. “Tension prevailed on Friday but there has not been any major

incidence of violence since Thursday evening. Most tribals, who had gathered here from nearby villages,

have returned to their homes. The army remains on a stand by while extra police force has been

deployed,” Agarwal said. (Indian Express 10/2/07)

---

Security personnel charged with rape in C’garh; probe on (6)

Raipur, February 10 : A trbal woman was allegedly gangraped by India Reserve Battalion personnel from

Mizoram deployed in the Naxal-affected Dantewada area of Chhattisgarh. This comes within weeks of the

National Commission for Women expressing concern at the increase in atrocities against tribals caught

between Naxalites and security forces. The incident allegedly occurred on February 3 but it was brought to

light only after tribal rights activists made representations before Dantewada Collector K R Pisda and

Superintendent of Police O P Pal on Friday. Pisda said an SP level inquiry had been ordered into the

incident. “A medical test of the victim will be conducted soon,” he added. According to the complaint, the

incident occurred on the evening of February 3 when the victim was on her way home from a shop in

Nakulnaar village. “Three or four jawans of the Mizo battalion caught her and took her to a desolate place

where they raped her,” it says. The victim was gagged and beaten unconscious, sources said, leading to

severe back and abdominal injuries. Adivasi Mahasabha Mahila Morcha secretary Bimla Sori, who filed a

complaint with the police, said: “The police refused to register a case when the family members of the

victim went to lodge a complaint. They even suggested that the family opt for a compromise,” Morcha

vice-president Kusum Naam said. Dantewada SP Pal claimed that it was a case of altercation being

distorted by local leaders for political mileage. “The victim was selling liquor in the weekly haat. The Mizo

police personnel had an altercation with her as she wanted more money for the liquor. How is it possible to

rape someone on the day of the haat when hundreds of people are present in the village?” he said. (Indian

Express 11/2/07)

---

Tribals indifferent to campaigning (6)

MEDINIPUR SQUARE (Ganjam district): Manifestoes and promises are just eyewash. This seems to be

the strong belief of even inhabitants of rural pockets. The Medinipur Square is the connecting point for

tribal villages Tamana, Medinipur, Singabadi, Sihala and Scheduled Caste dominated village Jugudi. The

high-decibel campaign with catchy slogans and racy numbers seems to have not evoked any interest in

the region. “We will exercise our franchise. But, we know for sure that the candidates will not take up the

issues they are raking up now for the sake of votes,” say several persons while enjoying a meal at a

roadside shop. Bijay Pradhan of Tamana cites the case of Ghatakeswar small-irrigation project, which is a

long-standing demand. “Foundation stone for the project was laid three times by leaders with much

fanfare. But it is yet to materialise,” he says. Jagannath Behera, who contested on BJP ticket in the last

elections and campaigning for the BJD now, intervenes saying: “We will submit a memorandum to the

Chief Minister over the matter when he comes to Lathi village.” Panchayat elections are won through

personal relations rather than tall promises, says the driver of a Congress campaign vehicle. While

campaigning was on at this square, tribals of Tamana village just a few km away were busy with their

day-to-day chores. (The Hindu 11/2/07)

---

Gehlot blames Raje for Rishabdev violence (6)

JAIPUR: Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot has held Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje “directly”

responsible for the developments that led to violence and the death of a tribal in police firing in Rishabdev

town last week. “If the Chief Minister had timely monitored the implementation of the Supreme Court order

on the management of the Rishabdev temple, the unfortunate situation would not have arisen,” he said.

Mr.Gehlot, who visited the affected areas on Monday, said the situation there was indicative of the

prevailing anarchy in Rajasthan during the past three weeks in which the State Cabinet had been fighting

the Chief Minister singularly and in groups. “The Ministers are openly levelling charges of corruption,

deceit and moral turpitude against one another. They have no time to govern after their preoccupations.

The people are paying a heavy price for their squabbles,” he said. Mr.Gehlot said the BJP-led

Government, with a bloody track record of 10 instances of police firing in three years in which 17 persons

were killed, had breached the age-old harmony among the tribals, the members of the Jain community

and the rest of the Hindus in Rishabdev area. “The BJP rule has fragmented the social fabric of

Rajasthan,” he charged. (The Hindu 15/2/07)

---

Panel to frame rules for Forest Rights Bill implementation (6)

NEW DELHI: The Union Tribal Affairs Ministry has set up a committee to frame rules for the

implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest

Rights) Act, 2006. The 19-member committee, headed by retired bureaucrat S.R. Sankaran, has been

asked to submit its draft report within three months. The finalisation of the report would take another

month before it was actually implemented, Union Tribal Affairs Secretary Meena Gupta told reporters here

on Monday. The committee members include officials from the Ministries of Tribal Affairs, Forests and

Environment, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj besides representatives of some State

Governments and experts. The Forest Rights Bill was passed in the winter session of Parliament and

received the President’s assent on December 29, 2006. The Act recognises and vests the forest rights

and occupation in forest land in forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who

have been residing in such forests for generations but whose rights could not be recorded. In this context,

the Ministry has convened a meeting of the State Ministers in charge of tribal affairs on Wednesday. Also,

the Ministry is finalising the National Tribal Policy and it is shortly expected to go to the Cabinet for

approval. The Ministry has revived its Tribal Sub-Plan that had fallen into disuse over the years due to lack

of implementation by the State Governments. The States have been asked to create a separate head for

the Tribal Sub-Plan — first started in 1974 — so that funds under this cannot be diverted. According to

Ms. Gupta the Ministry will also develop over 2,700 forest villages and an amount of Rs. 15 lakh per

village has been earmarked for the purpose. As many as 13 States will be covered under this scheme that

seeks to provide roads, electricity and water for these villages. .Further, the Ministry has also decided to

involve banks in disbursing loans to the tribals for income generation under the National Scheduled Tribes

Finance and Development Corporation which was earlier done only through the State Scheduled Tribe

Finances Corporation, and often faced blockages due to shortage of funds. (The Hindu 14/2/07)

---

Anantapur tribals decry felling of trees (6)

Bhubaneswar : Tribals at the Anantapur forest reserve in Dhenkanal district are taking up arms against

forest officials for the felling of 800 young and healthy trees. The tribals from Khajurinali and Chauliajharan

hamlets have decided not to allow any logs to be removed till a proper inquiry is ordered into what they

allege is illegal felling. They say the forest officials have threatened them with dire consequences. “The

officials told us that there’s no proof that we are legal settlers. They said they will carry the logs and then

file cases and send us all to jail,” said Ramchandra Murmu, a local. The tribals also say that in the past

they have been jailed for crimes committed by the timber mafia. “A similar thing happened years ago when

the officials felled trees but filed cases for illegal felling against us,” said Fagu Soren. A strict ban has

been imposed on felling of trees in the State’s forests for the past 16 years. The forest department was

given a temporary permission in 2005-06 to cut a limited number of damaged and diseased trees and

working plans were drawn up for 11 Forest Divisions. However, activists say the working plans were

completely ignored. “The Government spends so much money on forest conservation and takes huge

loans from the World Bank,” said Akshay Pani, Coordinator, Adivasi Kranti Sangathan. “In principle, a

forest so well protected by local tribals should not have been touched. Secondly, the norms for felling have

been violated by the forest department.” Despite repeated attempts, the Dhenkanal District Forest Officer

and Manager of the Forest Development Corporation refused to give their reaction on the matter. But it’s

clear that as the tribals wait for the State Government to institute an inquiry, their anger is rising with each

passing day. Pioneer 14/2/07)

---

Tribal land grab cases on rise in Jharkhand (6)

Ranchi : Jharkhand tribals are facing challenges from different corners. Their problem is evident from the

fact that their population is declining in the State while their land is grabbed in their homeland.

Anthropologists and social scientists are concerned about the declining population of tribals in general and

primitive tribes in particular. The tribal population has declined to 27 per cent in the State from 42 per cent

in 1951. The impact of the declining population trend is seen on the reserved seats of Assembly

constituencies. The Delimitation Commission has recommended decrease the reserved tribal seats in

Assembly from 28 to 21. The number of cases lodged by tribal people indicates that land grabbing by

non-tribals increased manifolds after creation of the State. The cases lodged under Special Area

Regulation Court (SPRC) have increased. In 2003-2004 a total of 2,608 cases were registered which went

up to 2,657 cases in 2004-2005. A total of 3,230 cases were registered in 2005-2006 and in 2006-2007 till

January this year the figure is 3,789. Tribal people lodge their cases under SPRC. The SPR court hears

the cases and fines people who are found guilty of land grabbing. If anyone has made construction on the

tribal plot then the court slaps a fine, which is given to the original owner (tribal). Two laws are in force to

protect the land rights of tribal people in the State -Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Parangan

Tenancy Act. Both Acts prevent sale of tribal land to non-tribals. “It is a game of money. Those who are

poor have no say in politics and they remain neglected and downtrodden and same is the case with tribal

people. Heavens were promised to tribal people before creation of the State and now their voices have

been crushed. Those who never participated in the Jharkhand movement are the ones who rule the State

now. And the poor (tribal) never figured in their agenda,” said father Benni Ekka, director of St Xavier

Institute of Social Service. (Pioneer 14/2/07)

---

Minister seeks quota for tribals in jobs (6)

New Delhi : The Minister for Tribal Welfare Kunwar Vijay Shah put forward a demand of reservation in

jobs for the tribals of Madhya Pradesh in proportion to their population in central services in the

‘Conference of States Ministers incharge of Tribal Welfare Development’ at New Delhi on Wednesday. He

also made a fervent plea for early approval of the proposed projects pending before the Union

Government as well as release of maximum funds for the welfare of tribals of the State. The schemes

being implemented by the State Government for the welfare of the tribals were lauded in the meeting. The

ministers of tribal welfare of various States attended the meeting presided over by the Union Minister for

Tribal Affairs PR Kindiya. Drawing attention of the Union Minister towards the fact that Madhya Pradesh

has a very little representation in the central services despite 20 per cent of the population is covered by

the tribals, Kunwar Shah stressed that Madhya Pradesh tribals should get proper representation in the

central services. He further mentioned that special focus should be laid while posting tribal officers in

Madhya Pradesh under the administrative services and Indian Police Services. There is no tribal battalion

under the defence department, although tribal population constitutes 8.2 per cent of the total population of

the country. Several tribal freedom fighters have sacrificed their lives in the freedom struggle. (Pioneer

15/2/07)

---

Tata gets additional 1,079 acres of land at K Nagar (6)

Bhubaneswar : Tata Steel, which had asked for an additional 1,079 acres in Kalinga

Nagar, is now happy with the State Government’s decision to meet its requirement. For

the last three years, the country’s largest private sector steel producer had been trying

to set up its six-million-tonne-per-annum (MTPA) steel plant in the face of the tribal

resistance. The company had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the

State Government on November 17, 2004 to set up the greenfield project. On January

2, 2006, 13 tribals opposing the land acquisition were killed in police firing. Since then,

the company has not been able to take up any major construction job in the area. Even

though the company has not been able to bring under its control the 2,400 acres for its

original steel facility, it in the meanwhile, asked the Government to allot an additional

1,079 acres to facilitate downstream industries, which are likely to come up at an

investment of Rs 3,300 crore. The downstream industries include cold-rolled products,

colour coated sheets and spiral welded pipes. The proposal was okayed at the recent

meeting of the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA), said official

sources. Sources said that there was a hitch over the allotment of land because Jindal

Stainless Limited has also asked for an additional 400 acres adjacent to its project to

upgrade the 1.6-MTPA stainless steel plant to a 3.2-MTPA integrated steel project at

Kalinga Nagar. The SLSWA, however, decided to allot additional land to both the

companies to meet their requirements. Over and above the request for the additional

land, Tata Steel has also requested the Government to modify the MoU, which earlier

envisaged an investment of Rs 15,400 crore in the steel project. According to sources,

the Government has given the green signal in this regard and the MoU would be

modified soon. With this modification, an investment to the tune of Rs 18,700 crore by

Tata Steel in Kalinga Nagar gets the nod from the Government, admitted sources.

(Pioneer 20/2/07)

---

Koraput tribal group receives national award for plant protection (6)

Bhubaneswar : Panchavati Gramya Unnayana Samiti, an organisation of the tribal

farming communities of Koraput district has been selected for the Genome Saviour

Award for the protection of plant variety and Farmers Rights Authority (PP&FR) of the

Government of India. The Award is instituted under the PPV&FR Act to recognise and

reward communities and farmers for their contribution to genetic resources

conservation and improvement. The tribal community of Koraput has been elected for

this recognition for their outstanding and seminal contribution to conservation of plant

genetic resources particularly rice, in the biodiversity rich centres of South Orissa. The

Community representative of Koraput will receive the Award from the Union Agriculture

Minister Sharad Pawar at a glittering function in New Delhi on February 20. Chennai

based MS Swaminathan Research Foundation has been assisting the tribal

communities of Koraput for undertaking conservation of traditional rice . (Pioneer

20/2/07)

---

Rajasthan to create separate cadre for tribal development (6)

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Government is considering establishing a separate

departmental cadre in the Tribal Area Development (TAD) Department to ensure

effective implementation of various projects and their completion on time. This will also

solve the problem of vacant posts in the department without fresh recruitments for long.

TAD Minister Kanakmal Katara, stating this while addressing a meeting of the

Scheduled Tribes Consultative Council in Udaipur on Monday, said attempts were

being made to utilise entire funds received in the Scheduled Tribes welfare head. He

said the works in the tribal areas were executed this year by using 15 per cent more

funds in comparison with last year. Mr. Katara said the works in the tribal areas were

presently being implemented through other departments in the absence of an executing

agency of the TAD Department. The method of execution will change with the creation

of a departmental cadre. The Minister, who released a booklet titled “Janjati Vikas”

(development of tribes) on the occasion, said the State Government had taken steps to

speed up development of the tribal-dominated regions by constructing roads, installing

hand pumps, reviving irrigation schemes and opening more schools. Mr. Katara said

the quality of education in residential schools would be improved to benefit the tribal

children and tribal fishermen of Jaisamand and Kadana areas would be provided

assistance. (The Hindu 21/2/07)

---

Bihar tribal women allegedly raped in UP village, nine arrested (6)

LUCKNOW, BALLIA, FEBRUARY 23 : Thirteen tribal women, including three minors, were allegedly

gang-raped late Wednesday night by a group of unidentified youths at a brick kiln in eastern UP’s Ballia

district. The incident came to light on Thursday when BJP MLA Ram Iqbal Singh informed the police of it.

The Bhimpur circle police have arrested nine persons, including the kiln’s owner and a clerk, and

recovered a large quantity of country-made liquor from the spot. An illegal distillery of country-made liquor

was being run from the kiln premises. “We had sent the women for medical examination and the report is

awaited,” said Aqramul Haq, the SP of Ballia. Dr Yog Maya Trivedi, the chief medical superintendent of

local Mahila Hospital, said the medical examination had been completed and confirmed that “some

women were found to have been raped”. She did not say how many. “Medical examinations on the minors

were also conducted,” she said. “We are making arrangements to send these tribal women to their native

places in Bihar once the examination are over,” said Haq. According to one of the victims, about 20 drunk

youths came to the brick kiln — run by a local businessman Guddu Singh — around 11.20 pm on

Wednesday night wearing masks and started molesting the women sleeping in their mud houses. When

the women’s relatives objected, a brawl broke out ending in the alleged rape of the 13 women. “They

threw our belongings and children out of the houses, beat up our men and raped me and other women,”

one of the victims told the The Indian Express. “When we came to know about the incident Thursday

afternoon, we immediately sent a team to the site,” said SP Haq. This morning, clerk Arun Kumar Singh

lodged an FIR. (Indian Express 24/2/07)

---

‘Tribals are aware of traditions’ (6)

Udaipur : The historic Lake City of Udaipur on Sunday witnessed one of the biggest congregations of

Adivasis, who gathered here to assert that they were very much a part of Hindus and all attempts to divide

them would be foiled. Organised by Rajasthan Vanvasi Kalayan Parishad of Sangh Parivar, the

congregation named as Rashtra Shakti Sammelan, was attended by about a lakh Adivasis of this

tribal-dominated southern part of Rajasthan. The venue, Maharana Bhopal Stadium was packed with

Advasis who had come in their colourful best costumes from the districts like Banswara, Dungarpur,

Chittorgarh, Slumber and Rajasamand. RSS Sarsanghchalak KC Sudarshan, as main speaker, said that

some Christian organisations are engaged in misleading the innocent tribals that they are not the part of

Hinduism and are trying to persuade them to convert to Christianity. “But they would not succeed in the

nefarious designs as there was now awareness among the tribals about their religion and traditions,” he

said. The Rashtra Shakti Sammelan was organised as a part of birth centenary celebration of RSS

Sarsanghchalal MS Golwalkar affectionately called Shri Guruji. The Parishad was preparing for the

congregation for the past many months. Sudarshan lauded the work of Parishad in this tribal populated

part of the State, which, he says, is the next target of missionary organisations, who are trying their best to

get their foothold here. (Pioneer 26/2/07)

---

Jharsuguda: Tribal families lose land without getting any compensation (6)

Jharsuguda : For the people of Jharsuguda, displacement has been a part of life. It

started with the first post-Independence multi-crore project, the Hirakud Dam in 1947

and continues till date. This has pushed the people not only to a future of uncertainty

but has forced upon them untold sufferings, with the landless people (Sukhbasis), who

have been enjoying Government land, having to part with the land with no benefits

coming forward to keep their kitchen fire burning. And the latest in the long list of the

ousted landless are 11 tribal families who are threatened with destitution by alumina

major Vedanta’s proposed 2,50,000-tonne smelter plant and a thermal power plant by

Sterlite in the villages of Burkhamunda and Brundamal, respectively, in the district. It

was in 1974, during the then Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy’s regime, that landless

Timen Bhue, Chanchal Bhue, Parsuram Bhue, Tulishram Kheti and Bhubaneswar Kheti

of village Banjari were given Government land. They were even issued with Records of

Right (Patta) duly recorded in the Hamid Settlement. And they enjoyed the fruits of it,

being unaware that the land subsequently had been recorded back as Government

land during the Major Settlement. This, despite the fact that mutation of the land was

pending since long. Meanwhile, Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL) applied for land for

their proposed projects and, accordingly, IDCO sought for alienation of 59.96 acres of

Government land under Banjari revenue village for the proposed plant. While 24.48

acres of land has already been transferred to VAL, the Revenue Department has given

permissive possession 24.83 acres of the balance land to IDCO. Surprisingly, these

lands include the land of those poor on whom CM Nandini Satpathy had bestowed

largesse. Although these tribals put forth their grievances during acquisition of the lands

by the Revenue Department in 2004 to the Jharsuguda Tehsildar, it has been two long

years and their fate hangs in balance, with the officials sitting over the matter. And for

these tribals, it now seems to be a case of ‘justice delayed is justice denied.’ The

situation is no better for those who were given ceiling-surplus land to eke out a living.

They have been rendered landless again, with VAL dumping soil on their little patches

of land, which has been alienated with least thought for them. Now, all of them seem to

be caught between the deep sea and the devil. They neither can opt to develop the

land nor can leave it, as it would snatch their livelihood from them. Moreover, with their

voices too feeble to be heard and not enough resources at their disposal to knock the

doors of the courts, they today just stand as mute spectators. And with records

reflecting the land they have been living on is Government’s, it is for sure that they will

be deprived of both compensation and any financial benefits that may keep them going.

But even though this concern was raised at the last RPDAC meeting held on October 9

last year, the big question is: Will justice ever be delivered to these tribals in the usual

process of law? (Pioneer 27/2/07)

---

Big package for Gujarat tribals announced (6)

GANDHINAGAR: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a

Rs.15,000-crore package for the all-round development of tribals in the State. Making a

statement in the Assembly here, Mr. Modi said the “Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana” would

be implemented in the next five years along with the 11th five-year plan to improve the

financial, educational and social standards of the Scheduled Tribes. He claimed that

while the State spent about Rs.6,500 croreunder the various tribal sub-plans in 27 years

since 1974, in the last five years the allocations under the tribal sub-plan was raised to

Rs.6,000 crore. But even this was not sufficient for the all-round development of the

neglected tribals who constitute about 15 per cent of the population spread over 43

talukas in the State. He said in a bid to reflect the aspirations of the tribals, his

government decided to formulate a separate scheme for their development. Claiming

that the yojana would become a “trend-setter” in the country, Mr. Modi also announced

a 10-point programme for the implementation of the scheme. Among the programmes

announced were opening job-oriented schemes in the tribal areas to help double their

income, offering educational facilities in all tribal areas for their children, laying pipeline

to connect all tribal villages for drinking water supply, providing necessary assistance to

encourage tribal farmers to shift to drip irrigation, providing houses for all homeless

tribals, electrification of the houses of poor tribals at the government’s cost and

all-weather road links to all tribal villages. (The Hindu 28/2/07)

---

Tribals enjoy the fruits of a life insured (6)

BERHAMPUR : Tribals, especially their women folk in remote areas of Gajapati district

have started to experience benefits of group insurance schemes. Balaji Sabar of

Badamasingi village of Kainpur panchayat under Rayagada block had never expected

his wife would help him financially even after her death. Balaji has received Rs.20,000

as death claim following the death of his wife, who had got enrolled in the Janashree

Bima Yojana of the Life Insurance Corporation. It is again the women Self Help Groups

(SHG) in tribal villages that have taken the lead. In Rayagada block 968 members of 80

women SHGs have enrolled their names in the `Janashree Bima Yojana’ scheme

paying yearly premium of Rs.100 for each member since 2004. As members of this

group insurance scheme these women are also getting extra benefit of the `Sikshya

Sahyog Yojana’ that is part and parcel of their group insurance scheme. Under this

scheme children of policy holders reading from class ninth to +2 get a scholarship of

RS.100 per month. Rambhi Guru of Gandahati village, whose son is reading in class X

is benefiting from it feels it is a great help for her son to pursue studies. “I was

overwhelmed when I came to know Rs.100 rupees invested by me would beget

Rs.1,200 per year for my son’s education,” she said. D. Jagannath Raju, president of

an NGO, Society for Welfare of Weaker Section (SWWS), which had motivated the

women SHGs to opt for group insurance schemes said women especially in tribal areas

are the real homemakers. Once they start understanding the benefits of a scheme it

easily percolates through to the general public. (The Hindu 28/2/07)

---

Rs 15,000 cr for Gujarat tribal development (6)

GANDHINAGAR, FEb 28: In a step apparently aimed at countering Congress’ thrust in the tribal region of

the State, Chief Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a grand Rs 15,000 crore plan for tribal development, in

the State Assembly on Tuesday. To be spent over the next five years, the ambitious ‘10-point Vanbandhu

Kalyan Yojana’ translates into Rs 3,000 crore per annum, which is close to 20 per cent of each year’s

annual plan size of the Government. Modi said the entire package would be implemented in a mission

mode beginning this year. In a clear sign that not all sections of the Government were not taken into

confidence over the ambitious project, Tribal Development Minister Mangubhai Patel, when questioned

from where the money would come for the scheme, expressed his inability to answer. “It is a CM’s

scheme and he would know the answer,” said the Minister. Leader of Opposition Arjun Modhvadia called it

a panic reaction of a Government worried by the massive turnout of tribals at last month’s Sonia Gandhi

rally in Devgadh Baria. Projects under the Yojana include broadband connection to all tribal talukas;

quality employment to five lakh tribal families; quality higher education through one science stream higher

secondary school in each tribal taluka, one Navodaya or Eklavya type school in each tribal taluka,

establishment of 100 more hostels for college students among others. (Indian Express 1/3/07)

---

Tribal students make merry (6)

BHUBANESWAR: Holi, the festival of colours, was celebrated with great enthusiasm by students of

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in the capital city on Saturday. The school offers free boarding

and education from primary to Plus Two science level to 3000 tribal children belonging to 28 tribes coming

from 30 districts of Orissa. The Holi celebration in the school was inaugurated by Scheduled Caste and

Scheduled Tribe Development Minister Chaitanya Prasad Majhi. A host of Oriya film personalities and

eminent persons also attended the celebrations and played Holi with the tribal boys and girls. (The Hindu

4/3/07)

---

Tribal leader held after leading dharna (6)

BHOPAL: A tribal leader, along with two others, was arrested this weekend after he went to the District

Collector’ s office at Betul in Madhya Pradesh with a large number of tribals to play Holi and draw the

Collector’s attention to their pending demands through “Gandhigiri.” The district president of the

Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Mangal Singh, had given advance information about the plan. The national

executive member of the Parishad, Anurag Modi, told The Hindu on Sunday that the tribals, on reaching

the Collector’s office at 4 p.m. on Saturday, found that Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code had been

imposed. They waited there for about an hour and left the place after distributing pamphlets. The

pamphlet said despite theiragitation, the Collector did nothing to address their demands that were linked to

the rate for plucking tendu leaf, below poverty line survey and irregularities in payment as well as granting

of compensation under the Employment Guarantee Act. When the tribals left the Collectorate, Mangal

Singh and two others were arrested near Nehru Park and sent to Betul Jail. (The Hindu 5/3/07)

---

Tribals to lift road blockade (6)

BHUBANESWAR: The Jajpur district administration heaved a sigh of relief on Monday with the agitating

tribals of Kalinga Nagar tribals agreeing to lift their road blockade agitation on Tuesday. Under the banner

of the Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch, the tribals of Kalinga Nagar had been blocking the Daitari-Paradip

highway at Kalinga Nagar since January 2 last year when 13 tribal men and women were killed in police

firing while opposing construction of a boundary wall for the proposed steel plant project of Tata Steel. The

leaders of the Janmanch agreed to lift the road blockade after they discussed their grievances with District

Collector Arabinda Kumar Padhee and other officials at a meeting held at Kalinga Nagar. About 25

representatives of the Janmanch attended the meeting. Talking to The Hindu over the phone, Mr. Padhee

expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the meeting. “The peace initiative that we attempted sincerely

and proper implementation of the resettlement and rehabilitation measures paid dividends,” he said.

According to Mr. Padhee, the tribals were assured that the chopped off limbs of a few firing victims will be

returned to their families on Tuesday. It was also agreed that the ex gratia payments will be paid to the

next of kin of the 12 tribals who were killed in the police firing. One of the 13 families had accepted the ex

gratia amount earlier. It was also decided that all those who had sustained injuries in the police firing will

also be paid ex gratia amount of Rs. 50,000 each. As regards the withdrawal of cases registered against

the tribals, the authorities assured that the Government has taken a lenient view and the cases were being

reviewed. Some cases will be withdrawn as per the law. The district administration had been desperately

trying to win over the tribals to put an end to the road blockade agitation as the High Court had fixed

March 9 as the deadline for lifting the blockade. The High Court had passed the order while hearing a

public interest petition on the issue. Although the Janmanch has said it would continue its agitation against

displacement in the area, they have told the administration to continue the dialogue process till their

demands were fulfilled (The Hindu 6/3/07)

---

Tribal refugees continue hunger strike in Tripura (6)

Hundreds of tribal refugees, who have been on a hunger strike in Tripura seeking repatriation to Mizoram,

refused on Monday to call off their agitation, despite appeals by the State Government. “We shall continue

our fast-unto-death agitation till our problem is resolved permanently,” said Elvis Chorkhy, president of the

Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum. Some 300 tribal refugees launched the indefinite hunger strike

on Friday after resorting to a week-long sit-in demonstration near the Raj Bhavan here. Over 33,000

Reang (locally called ‘Bru’) tribal refugees have been living in six north Tripura camps since October 1997

after they fled Mizoram following ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos. An all-party delegation from the

Tripura Assembly led by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar met the striking refugee leaders and requested them

to withdraw their agitation. Earlier on Monday, the Assembly passed a unanimous resolution urging the

refugees to withdraw their stir. “The Tripura Government, all the political parties in the State and the Union

Government are sympathetic towards your cause and struggle. New Delhi has taken certain steps to solve

your problems,” Sarkar told the agitating refugee leaders. The Chief Minister said Union Home Secretary

VK Duggal and Joint Secretary (Northeast Affairs) Naveen Verma were arriving in Aizawl Thursday and

then visit Agartal Tuesday to discuss the refugee crisis. Tripura Chief Secretary Shashi Prakash also held

a series of talks over phone with the union home ministry and requested it to take urgent steps to end the

crisis.Khagen Das, Lok Sabha member from Tripura, also met the Reang tribal leaders. In April 2005, the

Mizoram government and the militant Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF) signed an agreement after 13

rounds of talks to solve the decade-old ethnic crisis, leading to the surrender of about 1,040 militants of

the BNLF and Bru Liberation Front of Mizoram (BLFM).Both the rebel outfits have been fighting for setting

up an autonomous council for the refugees. (Pioneer 6/3/07)

Orissa tribals lift highway blockade (6)

Bhubaneswar, March 6: Bisthapan Birodhi Janamanch, the tribal organisation that has been spearheading

the blockage of the Daitary-Paradip national highway since January 2, 2006, has finally agreed to relent

from its 14-month long agitational activities. The Janamanch leaders on Tuesday received the chopped off

palms of their relatives and announced to lift the road blockade on Wednesday. As per the practice, the

doctors — who conducted post-mortem on the body of the police firing victims, had dismembered the

palms of the slain tribals as their identity could not be ascertained then. Although efforts were made earlier

to return the palms of the victims to their kith and kin, the latter had disowned the same saying the

chopped off organs did not belong the killed tribals. The ice was broken when the much awaited dialogue

between agitating tribals of Kaliga Nagar and Jajpur collector Arabinda Padhi took place on Monday for an

amicable solution to the crisis arising after the January 2 police firing incident. Despite road blockade, the

Janamanch has, however, been allowing vehicular traffic, except trucks, to ply on the road for the last

couple of months. All ground levelling and construction activities of the proposed Tata steel plant in the

industrial complex area had been brought to a halt by the triabl agitation. It may be mentioned here that

the firing incident took place when the tribals opposing construction of boundary walls of Tata steel project

clashed with the police. Tata Steel, after signing memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state

government, is facing tough time to make up with the agitating triabls, who are opposing to hand over the

land in favour of the steel company. After two futile attempts over the last week, the district administration

was successful in getting the Janmanch leaders to the negotiation table on Monday. A twenty-member

delegation led by the Janamanch general secretary Rabindra Jarika headed the talks with the

administration which lasted for three hours. The collector informed the tribals about the high court order

directing the district administration and the state government to lift the road blockade and said that

everyone had to obey the court’s directive. Mr Jarika, however, said their outfit would continue the road

blocked till the government withdrew all cases registered against the tribals, issuance death certificate to

the kith and kin of those who were killed in police firing and the return of palms — chopped off the victims

— to their families. A letter was given to the Janmanch assuring them of sympathetic and lenient review of

all cases registered against the tribals. These apart, death certificates and post-mortem certificates were

also assured to be handed over to the deceased’s families. (Asian Age 7/3/07)

---

K Nagar tribals demand further talks with CM (6)

Bhubaneswar/Jajpur : Contrary to the expectation that the agitating Kalinga Nagar tribals would lift their

14-month-old road blockade from Tuesday, the Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch made a condition that any

decision to this effect would only be taken after another round of talks between its leaders and Chief

Minister Naveen Patnaik. In this connection, Secretary Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch, Rabindra Jarika

faxed a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday. They also renewed their demands and

demanded that the compensation amount for the families of the deceased of the police firing should be

enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and jobs to the members of the concerned families. They also

urged the Government to pay Rs 1 lakh to the concerned family for each pair of chopped-off palms so

they would be able to cremate it with required rituals. All these demands have created uncertainty over the

lifting of the road blockade in a peaceful manner. However, after the Janmanch, the umbrella outfit of the

agitating tribals, softened their anti-Government stand, its members on Tuesday received the chopped-off

palms of the tribals killed in the January 2, 2006 police firing from the district administration. Returning of

the chopped-off palms was one of the major demands of the tribals, who have been staging the road

blockade on the Daitary-Paradeep Express Highway , since the police firing incident. A 15-member

delegation of the Janmanch, led by its president Chakradhar Haiburu, received the five pairs of

chopped-off palms of the tribals kept with the district administration since January 2 last year after 13

tribals were gunned down by the police while opposing construction of a boundary wall for the proposed

project of Tata Steel. Amid a storm of protests, the doctors, who conducted the postmortem on the firing

victims’ bodies, were suspended by the Government. Earlier, the district authorities had failed to hand over

the palms after the tribals expressed their doubts over the genuineness of the limbs. It was decided at a

meeting between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the tribals in Bhubaneswar on January 31 this year

that the limbs would be returned after forensic testing. Janmanch secretary Rabindra Jarika said, “We

cannot obey any decision if it affects our life and livelihood. The agitation against the industrialisation will

continue unless we get a written assurance from the Chief Minister.” The Janmanch leaders further said

the opposition to the steel project would continue. (Pioneer 7/3/07)

---

Tribals lift road blockade (6)

BHUBANESWAR: The tribals of Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district of the Orissa lifted their road blockade

agitation in the wee hours of Friday much to the relief of the Naveen Patnaik Government. Secretary of the

Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch said that the blockade had been lifted showing respect to the High Court

order, but the movement against displacement by the proposed steel plant project of Tata Steel will

continue in the area. As per their announcement made on Thursday evening, the office-bearers of the

Janmanch and a large number of men and women from the nearby villages gathered at the blockade site

near Ambagadia village around midnight and removed the obstruction from the Daitari-Paradip highway

around 2 a.m. The tribals, who lifted the blockade after performing a puja ceremony, vowed to continue

their agitation against displacement by industries in their locality. High Court, which had earlier directed the

State Government to remove the road blockade, had fixed Friday as the deadline for implementing its

orders. When the case came up before the Court at Cuttack, counsel for the State Government submitted

that the blockade had been lifted. In Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed satisfaction

over the lifting of the road blockade by the tribals of Kalinga Nagar. The Janmanch, however, has clarified

that it would strongly oppose all activities of Tata Steel in their area till the various demands of the

Janmanch were fulfilled by the State Government. “We will not give our land and houses for any industry

in the area,” Mr. Jarika said. Meanwhile, the Finance Department of the State Government gave its nod to

a proposal mooted by the Home Department to raise new force to be named Industrial Security Force.

Initially, the force will have around 500 personnel. Funds are being allocated to facilitate creation of the

new force which will be deployed in various industrial hubs of the State to maintain law and order, a senior

government official said after a high level meeting held on Friday. People’s opposition to setting up of new

industries at various places and frequent law and order problems in different industrial hubs in the recent

months had made the authorities to go in for creating the new force, sources said. (The Hindu 10/3/07)

---

`Protect livelihood of displaced tribals’ (6)

BHUBANESWAR: Noted writer and Magsaysay awardee Mahasweta Devi on Sunday called for protection

of livelihood of tribal population in the wake of fast industrialisation in different States, particularly in Orissa

and West Bengal. The people who had been evicted due to industrial projects in Kalinga Nagar and such

other areas should be provided with all basic amenities, including houses, electricity, drinking water,

schools, approach roads and health facilities, Ms. Devi said. Speaking at the prize-giving ceremony of the

23rd Bhubaneswar Book Fair here, the octogenarian writer also said tribal and marginalised sections of

society should be brought under various welfare programmes. She focused on the Singur, where the Tata

Group was planning to put up a car project. Ms. Devi said, while thousands of cars could be produced

from a facility on 300 acres of land at Gurugaon in Haryana, why the West Bengal Government was

handing over 1,000 acres of fertile land. “I was happy with the way villagers came out to protest against

land acquisition. When I visited Singur some 15,000 villagers gathered to say that they would not give

away their land. It was more heartening to note that most of these protesters were women,” she said. The

Jnanpeeth winner criticised West Bengal for “indiscriminately” handing over land to different industrial

houses such as Tata, Salim and Jindal groups. Ms. Mahasweta Devi, who was conferred Arya Vedanta

award at the function, declared that the prize money would go for the welfare of a primitive tribe of West

Bengal. Speaking on the occasion, former Lok Sabha Speaker Rabi Ray said the writers should make

efforts to enrich Oriya language and encourage budding writers. The book fair would come to an end on

Monday. (The Hindu 12/3/07)

---

Villagers protest against curbs on access to forest resources (6)

BHUBANESWAR: A group of 500 villagers residing inside the Badrama Wildlife Sanctuary in Sambalpur

district took to the streets on Monday demanding better access to natural resources. The inhabitants of

remote villages submitted a memorandum to district magistrate L N Nayak describing the painful life they

had been leading inside the forest area. “The residents critically depend on collection of various

non-timber forest produces (NTFPs) for their sustenance. Restrictions of forest department on collection

of NTFPs inside the sanctuary area have led to serious livelihood crisis for villagers ,” convenor of

Badrama Sanctuary Bikash Parishad (BSBP) Dusmant Kumar Pradhan said. He alleged that the

Government welfare programmes, including NREGP had not been extended to these villagers. “The

problems get further complicated when the forest department charge entry fee on villagers. We are

branded like a criminals on our own land,” Mr. Pradhan said. The BSBP demanded immediate

implementation of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest

Right Act 2006) that provided greater access to forest resources. (The Hindu 13/3/07)

---

Tribals can contest from SC seats, says Centre (6)

New Delhi, March 12: The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it would not have any objection

if Scheduled Tribes (STs) candidates contested from constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs)

during the ensuing elections in Uttar Pradesh. However, such concession might create considerable

dichotomy in the long run as the STs, who are seeking such benefits, are at present availing various other

educational and service benefits under the ST quota, additional solicitor-general Gopal Subramaniam told

a bench of Justices C.K. Thakker and V.S. Sirpurkar. The bench, which heard the arguments of the

government and senior counsel Shanti Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioner Vijay Singh Gond and

the Adiwasi Giriwasi Samiti Duddhi, said it would pronounce its interim order on Tuesday. (PTI) (Asian

Age 13/3/07)

---

Parents starve tribal baby girls to death (6)

Parigi (Andhra Pradesh), March 13: Eleven newborn girls were starved to death in the past one year by

their parents in a tribal village of Ranga Reddy district, 80 km from Hyderabad. The tribals of the Lambada

sect in Cheruvu Mundali Tanda of Kulkacharla mandal let the infants die by refusing to feed them. It is a

long-standing practice of the tribals to wrap up girls in a piece of cloth and leave them to die. They cherish

only male babies and consider daughters to be an economic burden. In fact, the villagers did not have any

qualms in admitting that they let the poor infants die. “My wife Bhagyamma gave birth to a female baby for

the third time,” said Jarpula Peerya Nayak, 27, of the village. “A daughter is a burden and we decided not

to feed her. So she died.” Jarpula Nayak hastened to add that he did not kill the baby by smothering her or

strangling her. “We just let her die,” he added. “It is very difficult to bring up girls and marry them off.” His

cousin, J. Ravi, and his wife Sujatha also let their newborn baby girl starve to death. This happened on

February 25. “My daughter died two days after birth since we did not feed her,” admitted Ravi. “We already

have two girls and can’t afford to have one more.” After starving and killing the baby girls, the tribals dig a

grave in their fields and bury them. Then they put a stone on the grave. Villagers said that dogs had eaten

parts of the body of Ravi’s daughter and he had to bury her again. Most of the 40-odd families in the

village have either witnessed such killings or have performed it themselves over the years. Jarpula Lokya

Nayak, brother of MPTC Pentya Nayak, is also learnt to have starved to death two girls. Most of the

infants starved to death were the third or fourth daughters of couples. Female infanticide is also practised

at Rokatigutta Tanda of Ipavapalli panchayat, Gorigadda Tanda of K. Samudram and Nerellagadda

Tanda. On March 9, schoolteachers, with the help of an NGO activist of Gorigadda Tanda, prevented K.

Buggamma and Pandya Nayak from killing their fifth child, which also turned out to be a daughter.

“Buggamma had said beforehand that she would kill the child if it was female,” said Rajesh Rathod,

headmaster of the Government Upper Primary School in Gorigadda Tanda. “After the baby was born, we

told her that Goddess Lakshmi had come to her home. Only after that did she feed the baby.” Kulkacharla

deputy mandal revenue officer Y.B.N. Avataram said that the recurrent infanticide had not come to his

notice so far. “We will conduct an inquiry into this,” he said. Parigi inspector P. Maheswar also said that he

came to know of the killing of the infants through media representatives. “The villagers told our constables

that the babies were stillborn or were premature,” he said. “We haven’t booked any cases so far.”

Keshulamma, a midwife of Cheruvu Mundali Tanda, said that she had delivered 11 female babies in her

village recently but all of them had “died” soon after. Strangely enough, the main reason cited by parents

for killing the girls is the huge expense of marrying them off, maybe 20 years later. “We have to give a

scooter, five to six tolas of gold and Rs 50,000 cash to a good groom,” said a villager. “How many people

can afford that?” Because of this, villagers turn a deaf ear even if they hear the heart-rending cries of an

unfed child on the throes of death. …….. (Asian Age 14/3/07)

---

Congress complains to Central Tribal Commission (6)

JAIPUR: The Congress has complained to the Central Tribal Commission about “discriminatory” treatment

being meted out by the BJP-led Government in Rajasthan to tribals in providing relief. While the families of

the victims of police firing elsewhere in the State were given Rs.5 lakh each, the kin of Ram Lal, killed in

police firing in Rishhabdev town last month, was given only Rs.1 lakh, it has pointed out. In a

representation to the Chairman of the Tribal Commission, Pradesh Congress Committee general

secretary Ashk Ali Tak alleged, “Even in the matter of awarding compensation to the deceased in police

firing a tribal is discriminated against in Rajasthan.” After the police firings at Gharsana in Sriganganagar

in October and December 2004 in which six persons were killed, the families were given a relief of Rs.5

lakh each. Similarly, in Tonk district where five persons were killed in police firing in June 2005, a solatium

of Rs.5 lakh each had been paid to the kin, Mr. Tak said. The family of Ram Lal, a tribal who belonged to

Dhelana village in Kherwara tehsil of Udaipur, was paid only Rs.1 lakh, Mr. Tak pointed out. “Without

going into the un-justifiability of police firing, which is a separate issue, the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress

Committee submits that even in tragedies the BJP State Government is not desisting from making

discrimination against Adivasis,” he added. (The Hindu 14/3/07)

---

Jharkhand tribals protest near Parliament (6)

NEW DELHI: Representatives of the Scheduled Tribes from Jharkhand held a protest demonstration at

Parliament Street here on Wednesday demanding that the number of seats in the Assembly be increased

and also that the present proportion of the Scheduled Tribes reserved seats be maintained. The

protesters claimed that villagers in the area were being illegally dispossessed of their lands by the defence

establishment, the Airports Authority of India and the Steel Authority of India. Addressing the gathering,

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat said a petition listing the problems of the people

had been submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and he had promised that the matter would be

looked into. “What the people here are demanding are their rights. A letter from the Defence Ministry

states that the land in and around Ranchi airport belongs to the defence establishment and that the

villagers have no legal right over it and that members of the Scheduled Tribes have encroached on it. We

are asking for a re-look into the matter,” said Ms. Karat. As for their demand for increasing the number of

seats in the Legislative Assembly, Ms. Karat said: “We spoke about the problem to the Prime Minister and

he said that a committee will be constituted to look into the matter. We also want the Government to

provide rice and wheat at competitive prices to the villagers. We will continue to raise our voice till the

Government addresses the needs of the villagers.” The demonstration was also addressed by several

tribal representatives including Ramnika Gupta, Sukhnath Lohra and Surjeet Sinha who spoke about the

“sufferings of the people of Jharkhand.” “People are being deprived of their democratic rights and are not

being allowed to participate in developmental activities as the Government is not holding panchayat

elections in the State. We want to know why the Government has not yet looked into our problems?” said

Ramnika Gupta. CPI (M) leader J.S. Majumdar was present. (The Hindu 15/3/07)

---

PM assures adivasi seats: Brinda (6)

New Delhi, March 15: The political bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI (M) and

member of Parliament, Brinda Karat, on Thursday said that the Prime Minis ter Manmohan Singh has

assured her of protection to the adivasi ’seats. Ms Karat had met the Prime Minister on Wednesday and

submitted a memoran dum. “I am relieved after the assurance from the Prime Minister,” Ms Karat said.

She was addressing a press con ference at the CPI (M) headquarters in capital. “After we submitted the

mem orandum to the Prime Minister, he said that he finds no problem as to why it should not be done”. Ms

Karat said the Prime Minister has assured her that the entire population in the adivasi sched uled areas

would be brought under the 5th schedule of the Constitution. Five hundred adivasi’s from Jhark-hand had

come to Delhi on Wednesday and protested in front of the Parlia ment. The protesting adivasis, led by the

CPI (M), were saying that they are losing the assembly seats, scheduled areas, land, jobs and food. They

were also saying that their condition hasn’t improved even after the UFA govern ment came to power. The

adivasi delegation also met the Union home minister Shiv Raj Patil and submitted the memorandum to

him. The adivasis had put forth five major demands in their memorandum that was submitted to the Prime

Minister and home minister. (Asian Age 16/3/07)

---

Terror-stricken night for tribal children (6)

Ranibodili: There were 48 girls, all of them tribal children, staying in the same building, with only a wall

separating them from the khaki-clad policemen and the Special Police Officers. Not a single bullet was

embedded in the wall. The girls mostly belong to the Moriya tribe, generally known to be sympathetic to

the Maoists. The three hours was nerve-wracking, though, as they cried out for help, hiding under their

cots. The minute the gunfire shattered the stillness of the night, their teacher, S.R. Thakur, closed the

doors and took the little ones into his arms. He helped them remain calm under the cots, as they waited

for help that did not come. Eventually, he brought them out only after the sounds of bullets and the

explosion of the smoke bombs died out. They were later shifted to the Somanpalli Ashram School. (The

Hindu 17/3/07)

---

7 families ostracized as girls take HSC exam (6)

Balangir: Seven families of the Chakotia Bhunjia tribe in Orissa have been ostracised i by their community

for break ing rules — allowing their daughters to appear for the HSC examination. Tribals of Sanbahali village

in Sunabeda sanctuary ostracised the families after Chandini Chhatria, Jayashri Jhankar and Tribeni

Jhankar, who could not succeed in the examination last year, ap peared for it again this year. Another girl

Laila Chhatria also appeared along with them. Education is not en couraged among tribals. It was only a

few years ago that some Chakotia Bhunjia boys appeared for the HSC examination for the first time.

Nowadays, girls are also being sent to school but dropout once they attain puberty, said Kama Chhatria, a

tribal. The community is enraged as some families have allowed their daughters to sit for the ex amination.

“We have ostracised them because they didn’t follow our customs and traditions. They also sent their

daughters out side the village to appear for the test, which is against our tradition,” said another mem ber

Chaitanya Jhankar. (Times of India 18/3/07)

---

Chhattisgarh pilot project gives wing to a tribal dream (6)

Raipur, March 23: Hailing from the tribal heartland of Bastar, Ankur Ekka or her family has never set foot

in an aeroplane. Now, if a Chhattisgarh government plan takes off, she will soon be one of a group of 10

tribal girls from the state working as airhostesses. The small step might also prove the giant leap tribals,

who form 44 per cent of the state’s population, need for integration into the mainstream. “The entire

process has been like a revelation to me and my parents,” says an excited Ankur. State Tribal Welfare

Minister Ganesh Ram Bhagat, the brain behind the pilot project, says the government will bear the cost of

training the girls. “We will be spending an amount of about Rs 1 lakh on each of these girls. However, this

amount is nothing when we consider the fact that they will be breaking new ground,” says Bhagat. The first

batch of 10 girls, selected under the project, will begin training at Air Hostess Academy, a private institute

in Raipur, soon. The applicants had to be between 17 and 24 years of age, have a pleasing personality,

good communication skills, and should have at least passed Class XII. Christina Lal, who hails from the

tribal majority district of Dhamtari, says what’s driving her is the memory of the late Kalpana Chawla. “I

think there is a definite correlation between our cases as both of us tried for a profession that has not

generally been associated with our communities, in her case as a woman and in my case as a tribal,”

Christina says. The government will be lobbying with private airlines for a job for each of these girls once

they are through with the training. “Unless we are able to secure a job for each of these trained students

we won’t consider our responsibility complete,” says Secretary, Tribal Welfare Department, M K Raut.

(Indian Express 24/3/07)

---

Tribals to hold maha rally on April 29 (6)

Rourkela : The tribals of Kuarmunda Block in Sundargarh district observed March 24, 2007 as Kranti

Diwas following the completion of one-year of their demonstration against the sponge iron factories,

protesting against environmental pollution and other four issues. The have also decided to organise a

maha rally in Kuarmunda on April 29. One year ago, thousands of tribals of Kuarmunda Block

demonstrated before the Neepaz Steel and other five factories under the leadership of former Biramitrapur

MLA and Sundargarh district former BJD president George Tirkey on five issues: employment to local

youth, save environment, proper compensation to displaced, peripheral development and no further

displacement. Later the movement turned violent and the demonstrators ransacked the six sponge units.

Even the Sub-Collector Panposh was severely injured. To rein in the violence, police lathicharged and on

the FIRs of different victims arrested more than hundred tribals including George Tirkey and eight school

going children - released on bail after three months on the direction of Orissa High Court. The

demonstrations continued thereafter and even spread to different part of the District against displacement

and pollution alleging Government’s non-chalance to their demands. On Saturday at Kuarmunda

Inspection Bungalow, to commemorate their anniversary of the movement and also to chart the future

course of action, a meeting had been organised, where the participants agreed on to accelerate their

movement in the coming days for the cause of tribals. A steering committee, taking two representatives

from each GP of the twenty GPs under Kuarmunda GP, was formed to orchestrate the plans decided

upon. Earlier the Local Displaced Association for RSP and Mandira Dam had given a call to go for

economic blockade. Experts see the call of the tribal meet to hold a mega rally could be a testing time for

the administration and political parties. Meanwhile, apprehending law and order problem, police had

cordoned the area of Neepaz Steel and Kuarmunda IB area as a precautionary measure. (Pioneer

27/3/07)

---

K Nagar tribal team reaches Nandigram (6)

Jaipur : Despite the 24-hour detention by the West Bengal Police at the Kharagpur railway station, a

38-member Kalinga Nagar tribal delegation reached Nandigram in East Medinapur district that hit the

headlines recently after 14 farmers were killed in violence over land acquisition on Monday evening. The

delegation consisting of some woman members headed by Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch general

secretary Rabindra Jarika were detained at the railway station on Sunday, as they were heading towards

Nandigram on the show Puri-Howrah Express, to express their solidarity with the family members of the

victims, who had died in the police firing. “We were surprised. About 40 police personnel, many of them in

civilian clothes, surrounded us at Kharagpur railway station and asked why we were going to Nandigram.

We told them we were going to express our solidarity with the people of Nandigram. But they herded us

into a waiting van,” said Amar Singh Banara, one of the delegation members over telephone after

reaching the destination. West Bengal Police swung into action after reportedly getting an alert message

from their Orissa counterpart. The tribals ran into trouble when they got off the Puri-Howrah Express at

Kharagpur around 3 am. Banara said that the delegation was interrogated by the police. He added, “police

looked keen to know if the tribal group had any links with Maoists. Though they gave us food, they did not

allow us to move out.” Vista pan Virodhi Janmanch president Chakradhar Haiburu (Senior) said, “The

West Bengal police’s action on our delegation is unfortunate and as an attempt to ‘curb the democratic

rights’. There is no difference between Kalinga Nagar and Nandigram. Hence the people of Kalinga Nagar

thought it was their duty to stand by the people of Nandigram in their hour of crisis. Nandigram tribals had

come here to console us after the ghastly police firing. Our men had gone there to empathise with them

on humanitarian point of view, as a friend in need. Besides, the delegation will express our solidarity with

the farmers who are agitating against the Left Front Government’s bid to procure land for Indonesian

based Salem Group.” Palpable tension prevailed in the tribal-dominated villages in the industrial complex

area as the news of the detention tribals by the police at the railway station reached here. (Pioneer

28/3/07)

---

Naxal attacks a nightmarish experience for tribal families (6)

MARAIGUDEM: The raids by the CPI (Maoist) on a police station and adjacent Salwa Judum base camp,

housing about 1,600 tribal families, at Maraigudem in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh from March 24 to

27 has caused considerable alarm. The families were displaced in the wake of confrontation between the

extremist group and the State-sponsored Salwa Judum campaign. The raids were spearheaded by an

assault group of 70 naxalites, accompanied by about 1,000 members of the party’s village level

“sanghams.” The naxalites, camping in nearby forests, launched attacks only after nightfall. They hurled

petrol and soap bombs and resorted to heavy firing. It was a nightmarish experience for the inmates of the

tribal settlement, which lacks basic amenities. There is no power supply either at the camp or in the police

station. Dantewada Collector K.R. Pisda visited the camp on Tuesday and assured the inmates that all

steps to protect their lives. They made a representation him, urging that the camp be shifted either to

Gollapali or Konta, division headquarters. Mr. Pisda said their request would be looked into. The first

attack was launched in the early hours of March 24. The Salwa Judum activists responded quickly and

retaliated with bows and arrows. About 60 youths, designated as special police officers and armed with

.303 rifles, thwarted the attack. The fierce fighting lasted for about three hours. A Central Reserve Police

Force unit camping in the village and some 30 personnel of the State civil and armed police joined the

SPOs in beating back the Maoists. A CRPF officer said the naxalites suffered heavy casualties.

Explosives, a .303 rifle and Rs. 27,000 were recovered. Maoists laid siege to the village again the next

night. There was sporadic firing all through the night, with the naxalites retreating to the forests at 5 a.m.

So was the case on the third and fourth day. No reinforcements could be sent to Maraigudem as the area

lacked proper roads. Some of the panic-stricken camp inmates have started migrating to safer places.

The youth, shouldering the task of fortifying the camp, were engaged in the last few days in putting up

wooden barricades to block the free passage of intruders. (The Hindu 29/3/07)

---

Tension prevails in Kalinga Nagar industrial complex (6)

BHUBANESWAR: Tension prevailed in Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex in Jajpur district on Monday

following the death of a tribal youth who was injured in police firing on January 2 last year. The victim

Kisan Buliuli, aged about 25 years, breathed his last at the Shriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College at

Cuttack late on Sunday evening. As many as 13 tribal men and women had been killed when police

opened fire on the agitating tribals, who were opposing construction of a boundary wall for he proposed

steel plant project of Tata Steel. As the body of the victim reached Kalinga Nagar, hundreds of tribal men

and women blocked the Daitari-Paradip highway alleging that Buliuli died due to negligence on the part of

the authorities who failed to provide him necessary medical help. The office-bearers of the Visthapan

Virodhi Janmanch, the organisation that is spearheading the anti-displacement agitation in the locality,

alleged that the victim was got not given adequate medical attention when he was admitted to a local

government hospital on Saturday. Buliuli, who was treated at the SCB Medical College after he received

bullet injuries last year, was ailing and continued to suffer from fever most of the time, Janmanch

secretary Rabindra Jarika said. The victim, who hailed from Chandia village of Kalinga Nagar area, was

married and is survived by his pregnant wife. As the tribals continued to block the road from around 1 p.m.

demanding adequate compensation for the family of the deceased, the district administration officials

assured that Buliuli will be treated as a firing victim and his wife would be given necessary governmental

support, Mr Jarika said. The authorities also assured to provide medical care to 38 other tribals, who had

been injured in the police firing. Of the 38 persons, 18 had received serious injuries in the incident, Mr.

Jarika said. The tribals lifted the road blockade around 7 p.m. after the body of Buliuli was cremated and

assurances were given by the authorities to fulfill their demands. The road blockade agitation by the tribals

of Kalinga Nagar, which started on the day of the firing incident last year, was lifted on the night of March

8. The Janmanch lifted the road blockade showing respect to a High Court order on the issue. (The Hindu

3/4/07)

---

Tribal-friendly, eco-unfriendly (6)

With the popularity of the Raman Singh government at its lowest, over the past few months Bharatiya

Janata Party leaders have been busy finding innovative ways to appease and consolidate the party vote

bank. In a step that is being widely viewed as an attempt to maintain its dominance among the tribal

population of Chhattisgarh, the government has decided to drop criminal charges against 2,20,613 people,

registered under various forest and wildlife protection laws. Of these, 1,08,890 are Scheduled Tribes,

while 36,298 belong to the Scheduled Caste community. With this move, the government is set to lose Rs

12.76 crore in terms of fines imposed on the suspects booked under the various forest and wildlife

protection laws. While the entire nation is protesting loss of tree cover and illegal poaching, this step taken

by the Raman Singh government has only been successful in shielding criminals involved in destruction of

forest resources. However, the chief minister defends his decision to drop the charges by saying that “a

majority of these cases had been pending for many years and as most of these offenders were involved in

minor crimes, we decided to let them off with a warning.” BJP sources said the recent losses in

Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha and Kota Assembly bypolls led to this step to shield the tribal population. “While

the Congress has maintained a stronghold in the non-tribal districts, the BJP doesn’t want to lose its hold

over tribal constituencies, which have been our supporters,” the sources added. They pointed out that the

Bharatiya Janata Party was brought to power in the last Assembly polls due to the votes it received from

Scheduled Tribes constituencies. It won 26 ST seats, while the Congress could only secure eight seats.

Surprisingly, the state Congress has been silent over the issue. No senior leader is willing to go on record

to criticise the government since the Scheduled Tribes enjoy an overwhelming majority in the state with

about 35 per cent of the total population being classified under the category. However, animal lovers and

conservationists have been crying foul in what is being termed as government’s “political stand over the

issue”. Though the Raman Singh government repeatedly claims that the state has one of the highest

green covers in the country, with about 45 per cent of its total area under forests, such policies could

cause the state to lose its precious forest cover. (Indian Express 5/5/07)

---

Tribals protest runway expansion (6)

Tribals in Jharkhand are up in arms against the State Government’s decision to extend the runway of

Ranchi airport. The expansion plan will require acquisition of around 210 acres of land belonging to the

tribals. A team of tribals, along with CPI(M) leaders, had last month met Defence Minister AK Antony over

the issue. They requested him that the land of the tribal people not be taken over for the project. “Around

2,000 acres of land was acquired by the defence coordination committee in 1942. The land was not

acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894 and the tribals were not given compensation,” said Gyan

Shankar Mazumdar, CPI(M) Jharkhand unit general secretary. A major part of the land was later

transferred to the Civil Aviation Ministry and some of it remains with the Defence Ministry. Mazumdar

claimed that many tribal families still pay land revenue and possess the original land papers. A case is

also pending in the Jharkhand High Court over the issue. The tribals are pressing for two demands.

Firstly, the acquisition of fresh land be stopped and secondly, the land acquired in 1942, which is lying

unused, be given to displaced people. (PIONEER 7/4/07)

---

Tribal Council for scrapping of Polavaram (6)

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa’s Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) on Tuesday unanimously passed a

resolution urging Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to impress upon Centre to scrap the Polavaram

Multipurpose Project proposed by Andhra Pradesh Government across the Godavari. The TAC,

comprising of prominent tribal legislators, Member of Parliament and tribal leaders, expressed concern

that the back water of Polavaram project would submerge large areas which were under occupation of

tribals in Malkanagiri district of the state. Water Resource Secretary Arabinda Behera gave a presentation

of submergence to be caused. Mr. Patnaik assured that he would soon write to Centre intimating the

resolution of the TAC. (THE HINDU 11/4/07)

---

Tribal women in need of good health system (6)

BHUBANESWAR: At a time when medical science made a substantial progress and the Orissa

Government claimed to have made healthcare available in remote pockets, most of tribal women

interviewed by the State Commission for Women (SCW) said they depended on traditional methods of

deliveries and other childcare practices. “Wherever we have visited, we have found negligible presence of

gynaecologists. In Koraput, Rayagada and Malkanagiri, the women demanded appointment of women

doctors to address their problems,” SCW chairperson Namita Panda said here on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion of National Safe Motherhood Day, she said hundreds of

women across undivided Koraput district complained of poor health system. The SCW has so far

conducted public hearing on safe motherhood in 14 districts and will be holding similar interactions in nine

districts. Ms Panda said though the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), maternal death per lakh live births, in

the country had substantially come down to 301 between 1997-2003 as against 407 in the early 1990s, the

State had fared badly by managing to reduce the rate from 376 to 358 during the same period. The SCW

also found that stray cases of corruption among doctors’ community made the mater worse in different

districts including Keonjhar and Malkanagiri. At another workshop organised by White Ribbon Alliance

(HRA), a voluntary organisation, to mark the day here on Wednesday, speakers expressed concern on

slow progress of Orissa on this front. State HRA chairperson Sakti Sahu said “reduction of nine points in

nine years in MMR is not an encouraging sign. In fact, there has not been any significant reduction in the

rate of maternal deaths in the last few years. What is worrisome is that maternal mortality is far greater in

rural areas than in urban areas.” Earlier Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, an autonomous body under

Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, decided to post 15000 post cards to Chief Minister Naveen

Patnaik emphasising safe motherhood in the State. The weeklong campaign titled `Know Your

Entitlement’ would be launched on April 30. (THE HINDU 12/4/07)

---

Bail cancelled for four tribals (6)

BERHAMPUR: The Additional District Judge, Paralakhemundi, on Thursday cancelled the bail of four

tribals arrested on the charge of helping Maoists through video shows of the movie `Lal Salam’ in remote

villages in Gajapati district on Thursday. The public prosecutor filed a review petition on the bail order on

April 10. The Gajapati police arrested these four persons of Mohana block in Gajapati district, Prashant

Kadraka, Narendra Dengamaka, Manoj Majhi and Maleka Majhi on Sept 22 last year from Gilakuta village

while they were showing ‘Lal Salam’ there. They claim to be members of a tribal cultural organisation

named Kui Sanskrutika Sangh. But as per police they were supporters of naxals who also helped in the

naxal attack on R.Udaygiri town last year. (THE HINDU 13/4/07)

---

Tribal body tells migrant workers to go (6)

Shillong, April 12: Fear and panic has gripped non-tribal migrant workers in the north-eastern state of

Meghalaya after an influential tribal body served quit notices, asking them to vacate the state by the

month-end or face action. “We are having sleepless nights and feeling greatly insecure after the threat.

Like me, many people working here are in a quandary,” Harsha Gurung, a middle-aged Nepali-speaking

daily wage earner, said. Mr Gurung, originally hailing from Nepal, has been working in coalmines in

Meghalaya since the past 12 years. The Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Peoples (FKJGP), a group

that claims to fight for the rights of the indigenous tribal people of Meghalaya, have set May 1 as the

deadline for Hindi, Nepali and Bengali speaking migrant workers to leave the state. “We are not going to

spell out what course of action we would take once the deadline expires. But something is going to

happen and we shall throw them out,” warned Emlang Lytan, president of the federation. There are an

estimated 12,000 migrant workers, most of them working in the many coalfields in Meghalaya, bordering

Bangladesh. “These migrant workers are a bunch of criminals who have been indulging in looting,

murders, and even raping our tribal women,” Lytan said. A number of other tribal organisations and

individuals have backed the federation’s demand to free the state of migrant workers. (IANS) (ASIAN AGE

13/4/07)

---

Jeep in Raje’s carcade set on fire by tribals (6)

Jodhpur, April 15: A group of tribals angered over the alleged entry of security personnel in a temple in

Rajasthan’s Sirohi district on Sunday, set ablaze two government vehicles, including a jeep in the chief

minister Vasundhara Raje’s convoy and pelted stones at policemen, injuring four of them. The Meena

tribals were protesting the “entry” of security personnel of Ms Raje in the temple of Gautam Rishi, near

Poshaliya village, in that district. The incident occurred at around 12.45 pm after Ms Raje departed from

the temple after taking part in the annual fair there. As per convention, tribals do not permit uniformed men

in the temple and the panchayat and local community had asked police to ensure that no personnel went

near the shrine. Ms Raje was the chief guest at the function and addressed a huge gathering, faced

“angry” words during her speech. After completing her speech Ms Raje left. A group of tribals followed her

convoy, but she had already left the helipad before their arrival. The annoyed mob first pelted stones at

the returning convoy and then burnt an escort jeep and another vehicle. Four policeman, including a

sub-inspector, were injured in the incident. (PTI) (Asian Age 16/4/07)

---

Green signal for mortgaging tribal land draws flak (6)

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government’s recent green signal to mortgage tribal land for some select

purposes, mostly for taking up of economic activities, has come in for a sharp criticism from social

activists, who allege it would serve interest of less than five per cent of tribal population in the state.

According to Union Ministry of Rural Development (MORD) report, of total 18,08,660 tribal families live in

rural areas, 41 per cent are landless while 55.16 per cent are small and marginal landholders. These

groups constitute about 96.74 percent of tribal population in the State. Only 3.26 per cent of tribal

population could afford to mortgage their land. As per the new model, tribals would be given permission to

mortgage their land with banks for some specific reasons and non-tribal could participate in auction

arranged by banks in the event of bankruptcy. “In the event of bankruptcy, permission to non-tribals for

participating in the auction of tribal land will open the floodgate. The relaxation in the existing law indicates

that there are deeper interests at work,” said Y. Giri Rao of Vasundhara, a city-based voluntary

organisation. MORD’s figure said 10,48,669 tribal families go for loans from informal sources for their daily

consumption. While these families constitute 57.98 per cent, only 9.67 per cent of total tribal families

borrow for production purposes. Ironically, only 1,95,530 tribal families from 14,648 villages of the state

are yet to come inside the vicious circle of debt. These groups constitute only 10.81 per cent of total tribal

population. “If 57.98 per cent of tribal people have been taking loans for their daily consumption for years

now, the state government should first assess as to how much land have been left with the tribal people. If

this relaxation comes in place, the rest 10.81 per cent population will enter the ring of indebtedness in no

time,” Mr. Rao said. The Tribal Advisory Council had been demanding relaxation of Orissa Scheduled

Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribe) Regulation 1956 which could pave the way

for mortgaging tribal land for loans for banks. “The problem of land sale to obtain money, faced by a

miniscule proportion of tribals, can be easily solved by either setting up a line of credit by Integrated Tribal

Development Agency or banks based on land mortgage or by setting up a tribal land purchase and

distribution scheme,” Soumendra Sarangi, a social activist, said. He said government could purchase the

land from tribals who wanted to sell land at the prevailing market price and then it could distribute such

lands to landless tribal households. (The Hindu 19/4/07)

---

Tribals, police clash in Rewa district (6)

Bhopal : Six police personnel were injured in stone-pelting even as tribals who had encroached on forest

land were being evicted on Thursday at Ghateha village about 100 km from Rewa district headquarters.

Police had to fire in the air to disperse the agitating tribals. ”Roughly 3,000 tribals are encroaching on the

forestland. A notice was served earlier by the district administration. After repeated warnings proved futile,

Forest, Revenue and district administration officials reached the place and began the process of eviction,”

said Inspector-General (Rewa Range) B Maria Kumar. The IG said that the situation was under control

and did not warrant the imposition of prohibitory orders. The stone-pelting ensued after approximately half

the hutments were removed. One personnel had to be rushed to Rewa for treatment of a head injury.

”Police did not use even mild force on the crowd despite the incident,” the officer claimed though a New

Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) release alleged that several tribals, who have been residing there for more

than three years, sustained injuries. The NTUI said that police opened fire and lobbed tear gas shells.

”According to the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers’ Act, 2006, a person who

occupied such land prior to 2005 could be labeled an encroacher,” the NTUI explained. Forest officials in

Bhopal said that the encroachments on the reserve forest land were done after December 13, 2005,

encroachments prior to this date were not removed. The removal of encroachments had been going on for

about a week. The work of removal of encroachments on forest land was suspended after nightfall and

was likely to resume in the morning. (Pioneer 20/4/07)

---

Tribals participate in Thakurani jatra (6)

BERHAMPUR: Around 600 tribals, including women and children from R.Udaygiri area of Gajapati district,

took part in the ongoing Thakurani Jatra festival in the city on their way to Puri on Thursday night. This

group is part of an organisation `Parsuram Vahini’ with tribals living at Mahendragiri hill range area as

members. They are involved in the protection of environment and heritage of Mahendragiri, which they

believe was the dwelling area of Lord Parsuram, the seventh avatar of Vishnu. According to Ajay Das and

Bibhuti Nayak, who led the tribals, they had taken up a travel to the Puri to have darshan of Lord

Jagannath on Akshaya Tritiya, which is observed as the birthday of Parsuram. As Thakurani Jatra

happens to be a major festival of South Orissa they decided to break their journey in Berhampur to

become part of it. The tribals took out a rally with their traditional drums, cymbals and tribal musical

instruments. They moved around the city and went to Desibehera Street to offer their obeisance at the

makeshift temple of goddess Budhi Thakurani during the festival. (The Hindu 21/4/07)

---

Tribals seek representation in expert panels on wildlife area (6)

BHUBANESWAR: Tribal leaders and activists have demanded inclusion of community representatives in

expert committees, which play a key role in declaration of villages as Critical Wildlife Area. At the

conclusion of a two-day long consultation on Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers

(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, a set of recommendations that was agreed upon stated, “in case

when finally decision is taken to declare an area as critical wildlife area, the rehabilitation plan should be

prepared by the Government in active consultation and participation with the people of the area.” Every

village or hamlet or pada coming under the proposed critical wildlife area or National Park or Sanctuary

should have the right to nominate one person to the expert committee, it said. The meeting, which was

attended by lawyers, NGO activists and people from tribal communities, resolved that for the displaced

people who did not have any such evidence or record or rights, there should be provision for verbal

evidence. Moreover, palli sabha should be the unit for identification and vesting of rights to the forest

dwellers. “There should be a time limit of 180 days for the completion of the whole process of initiation of

the process of identification or rights by the gram sabha till the final vesting of rights by the district level

committees,” it said. The recommendations will be submitted to the Technical Support Group appointed by

the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Technical Support Group member K.C. Malhotra and noted tribal activist

Padmashree Tulasi Munda attended the consultation meet, which was organised by the Orissa

Development Action Forum and Forum of Collective Forms Cooperation (Eastern Region). (The Hindu

21/4/07)

---

NGOs condemn police action against tribals (6)

BHOPAL: Last week’s pitched battle between police, forest and district authorities, on the one side, and

alleged encroachers, on the other, on forestland near Ghateha village in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district

has drawn protests. While non-governmental organisations and people’s groups have condemned the use

of force against forest dwellers, the Government is firm that no fresh encroachment will be tolerated.

Activists of people’s organisations, in a statement at a press conference here on Monday, said the police

attacked and opened fire on tribals, six of whom received bullet injuries. Over 250 others had been

missing since the April 19 incident, the statement claimed. The signatories included Ramesh Chandra

Shukla of the Rashtriya Van Jan Shramjivi Morcha, Manohar Kothekar of the New Trade Union Incentive,

Vijay Bhai of the Abhiyan Jungle Jeevan Suraksh, Anil Garg of the Madhya Pradesh Van Abhiyan,

Rashida Bee of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmchari Sangh, Sushil Bhai of the Samajwadi

Jan Parishad and Madhuri of the Jagrut Adivasi Dalit Sangathan. When contacted, Principal Chief

Conservator of Forests V.R. Khare said it was a case of fresh encroachments. The authorities had on

April 12-13 and April 17 tried to remove the encroachers, but they were chased away. The first time, there

were only a few encroachers. But when a larger Forest Department team went again, the number of

encroachers had swelled, and it had to retreat under attack by tribals. On April 19, there was heavy stone

throwing as a strong force, comprising police and forest personnel, led by the Sub-divisional Magistrate

and the SDO Police, attempted to clear the encroachments. (THE HINDU 24/4/07)

---

Tribals protest refinery plans in Orissa (6)

Bhubaneswar : Thousands of tribal men and women armed with bows and arrows marched in Orissa on

Wednesday to protest against an alumina refinery owned by Britain’s Vedanta Resources Plc, police said.

Dongria Kondh tribals vowed to stop Vedanta starting the refinery in the mineral-rich Lanjigarh area of

Orissa, about 475 km southwest of Bhubaneswar. Large bauxite deposits had lured the company to this

remote and impoverished corner of Orissa, where they have already built the $900 million alumina

refinery. At issue is Vedanta’s plan to turn the top of the nearby Niyamgiri mountain into open-cast mines.

Tribals say the project will rob them of their homes. “Niyamgiri or no Niyamgiri, Vedanta go back,” shouted

several tribal men, wearing colourful headgear as they prepared to wage mock battle with spears and

arrows. (Pioneer 27/4/07)

---

Exploitation of tribals well depicted (6)

BERHAMPUR: The true colours of the `gentlemen’ who exploit tribals, particularly girls, were thoroughly

exposed in the play `Nila Amruta’ that was staged by artistes of the Ganjam Kala Parishad at its golden

jubilee celebrations. According to director Nrusinhananda Mohapatra, playwright Raju Patro used `Desia’

dialect of tribal dominated Koraput district in place of chaste Oriya to lend authenticity to the play. Veteran

theatre personality Raju Padhi, who acted in the play, was all praise for the stagecraft by Kedar Apta. The

whole prop on the stage was designed with an investment of a few hundred rupees. “There is scope to

transform it into a street-play also,” Mr. Padhi said. Rabi Narayan Behera, who played the main character

`Ghenu’, said all the artistes attended a workshop on the tribal language and behaviour to make it look

natural. His sweetheart Jhumuri is part of a tribal dance troupe that visits Bhubaneswar to perform. But,

she never returns. Ghenu then reaches Bhubaneswar in search of Jhumuri. In the process, he too is

exploited. He also comes to know how his lover was exploited. He then musters courage to unmask the

white-collared exploiters of his clan. (The Hindu 27/4/07)

---

Massacre out in the open, DGP of Chhattisgarh takes back words, orders a probe (6)

Raipur, May 5: A day after this newspaper reported that the killing of seven tribals in an “encounter” on

March 31 near Bijapur in Chhattisgarh was kept under wraps, the state’s top police officer today

announced a probe saying the bodies will be exhumed for autopsy. A police team is also on its way. Local

police have been asked to register a case of murder “against unknown persons”, said Director General of

Police O P Rathore. “The bodies will be exhumed and if evidence is found they were killed by security

personnel, legal action will follow,” said Rathore. This is in sharp contrast to what he told The Indian

Express just days ago: “Gujarat ki bimaari sab jagah phaila rahein hai log. The Naxalites are savages, we

are not into these things.” This newspaper had reported yesterday that according to villagers, seven tribals

from Ponjer village, who the police claim were Sangham members (Naxalite sympathisers), were picked

up by Chhattisgarh Armed Police and Salwa Judum, taken to nearby Santoshpur, and killed. “These were

Sangham members and we had gone to these villages to conduct a search mission. There was an

encounter and we were forced to act,” a senior district police officer had said. (Indian Express 6/5/07)

---

Move to vacate tribals from cashew plantation areas deplored (6)

KORAPUT: Dangar Adhikar Samiti of Koraput district has asked the government to abstain from using

force on tribals of Machkund region. Sania Sisa, president of the samiti, has reacted sharply to the

decision taken by the State government to use police force to evacuate tribals from the cashew plantation

area within a month. Challenging the move to declare the possession of tribals on the cashew plantation

areas as encroachment, he said the government was violating the norms of PESA, which was applicable

in the undivided Koraput district where no decision of transfer of land was permissible without the

acceptance of the proposal by Palli Sabha or Gramsabha. And no such process was adopted to acquire

the land. The plantation was done by the soil conservation department to check soil erosion in big dam

areas like Machkund, Kolab, Chitrokunda and Indravati dam area. Further the plantation was taken up on

a massive scale under different poverty elevation schemes. The intention was that the local community

would keep a watch on the plantation and would become the owners of that once the government

distributes tree pattas to beneficiaries, he said. But, when the trees bear fruits, the department, allegedly

had earned profit by harvesting the crop that was protected by the community. Things had got worsened

from 1975 when the State government created Cashew Development Corporation and Soil Conservation

Department was asked to hand over the plantation area to the corporation, he said. After a long struggle

by tribals of the region, the Tahsildar of Machkund had given 1500 families tree pattas in these cashew

plantation areas. But, surprisingly the same land was auctioned to another party by the corporation, he

said alleging that the State government was taking away the legitimate rights of poor tribals depriving them

of their basic source of livelihood to favour the corporation. (The Hindu 6/5/07)

---

Efforts on to get recognition to STs in Puducherry: Rangasamy (6)

Puducherry: Chief Minister N. Rangasamy has said the administration will persist in its efforts to get due

recognition for the Scheduled Tribes (STs) residing in Union Territory. He was replying to pleas made by

R. K. R. Anandaraman (PMK), Leader of the Opposition A. M. H. Nazeem (DMK) and a few other

members during a debate on a private member resolution tabled earlier by Anandaraman in the Assembly

on Saturday. Mr. Rangasamy said the administration was already seized of the necessity to get

recognition for the STs so that they would get reservation in employment and educational institutions. Mr.

Rangasamy said that in response to the representations made in the past, the Centre had written a letter

to the administration, asking it to provide a quota of one per cent of the employment or admission in the

institutions for some time. He hoped that a full-fledged approval would be given soon. Mr. Anandaraman

(PMK) and S. P. Sivakumar (DMK) placed two resolutions separately seeking the Government’s firm steps

to ensure that private medical colleges and also those `deemed to be universities’ functioning in Union

Territory earmarked 50 per cent of the total seats in the MBBS course for students sponsored by the

Centralised Admission Committee (CENTAC). Similar quota should be created in private engineering

colleges also. Replying to members’ views, the Chief Minister said that steps were already taken to ensure

that equal sharing of seats was available in the private professional colleges. (The Hindu 7/5/07)

---

Kalinga Nagar firing inquiry is suspended (6)

Bhubaneswar, May 6: The judicial probe into Kalinga Nagar police firing incident has been wound up half

way. Justice A.S. Naidu Commission of Inquiry, which was probing the case, has declared that the probe

has “ceased to exist” in view of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Orissa government’s appeal to

continue with the probe. “The commission has ceased to exist without completing the inquiry process in

view of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the state government’s appeal,” Justice Naidu said in a statement

on Saturday. At least 13 tribal people were killed on January 2, 2006 when the police opened fire on them

while they were protesting against construction of the boundary walls by a private steel firm. In November

2006, the Supreme Court had ruled that no sitting judge of high court can head an inquiry commission.

However, the top court allowed continuance of some commissions which were in the final stages of

completion of probes. Soon after the top court’s order, Justice Naidu suspended the proceedings of the

commission on December 9, 2006, and sought direction from the state government if it should continue.

After a month, the state government replied that the commission could continue with its proceedings since

it was in final stage of completion. Justice Naidu, however, insisted that the state government should

obtain clearance from the court. The government had moved the top court to allow the commission to

complete the probe. But the court on April 9 rejected the appeal. (Asian Age 7/5/07)

---

Tribals preserve forests (6)

New Delhi, May 6: It is an initiative, which can become a role-model for conserving the fragile eco-system

of the country. Tribals in one of Meghalaya’s little-known villages have gone a step forward and declared

some of their lands as a wildlife reserve. The villagers of Selbalgre have officially identified around five km

square area as a village-wildlife reserve. The village, located about 20 km from the Tura district

headquarters, is also home to endangered species of Hollock Gibbon (Bunopithecus hoolock). This

initiative was the result of a project initiated by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the British high

commission to study the role of district councils in protecting forest and wildlife. Welcoming the move,

conservationists have termed it unique as it is the villagers who themselves decided to keep aside some

of their land for wildlife conservation. The area can be further expanded in future, as villagers have shown

willingness to give more land. Tribals in the area practice jhum (rotational) cultivation which has disturbed

the sensitive eco-system causing lack of rainfall and less forest cover. The villagers also face water

scarcity in some areas. This led the tribals to conserve the forests and the eco-system. As part of the

project, WTI has been collecting information on forest resource extraction by villagers and producing

forest cover maps to help in the study. For this, council members, nokmas (village head) and other

villagers are being contacted. The objective of the project is to come out with a policy document which will

help village councils to tackle contemporary issues on wildlife conservation. In December 2006, the Garo

Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) had constituted a Wildlife Monitoring Committee to suggest

measures for wildlife conservation in areas which are under their jurisdiction. The main task of this

committee is to identify areas where conservation actions can be initiated. (Asian Age 7/5/07)

---

Karnataka CM, deputy to stay with tribals (6)

Bangalore, May 6: In a first-of-its-kind in the political history of Karnataka, chief minister H.D.

Kumaraswamy and deputy chief minister B.S. Yediurappa will stay overnight on Sunday in the residence

of Sudugadu Sidda, a native nomadic tribal, in Srirampura village of Arkalgud taluk in Hassan district. It

was Mr Kumaraswamy who started the practice of spending a night with common people and listen to the

grievances of the family and the villagers. Ever since he became the chief minister in February in 2006, Mr

Kumaraswamy has stayed in the residence of a HIV-afflicted patient in Bijapur, a leprosy-afflicted patient

in Raichur and a farmer in Gadag among others. “It is my way of telling them that I am with you,” the chief

minister said. Now, Mr Yediurappa — who would be accompanying the chief minister — has decided to

emulate Mr Kumaraswamy. “I would like to continue this practice at least once in a month to follow the

chief minister,” Mr Yediurappa said. “This is the first time I am staying in the residence of an ordinary

villager after becoming the deputy chief minister. However, I used to stay with farmers and agricultural

labourers in my native constituency of Shikaripura when I was the BJP president of Shimoga district in

mid-80s,” Mr Yediurappa recalled. Now that Mr Yediurappa has decided to emulate Mr Kumaraswamy, will

he direct his party ministers to emulate him? “You cannot enact a law and enforce it. But, I will appeal to

them,” he said. Meanwhile, the Hassan district administration has spruced up the village and the

residence of Sidda in order to receive the VIP guests. Roads approaching Srirampura village has been

asphalted and two standby generators have been installed to ensure uninterrupted power supply. “This is

from the security point of view,” a senior police officer said. (Asian Age 7/5/07)

---

Tribals to demonstrate (6)

BHUBANESWAR: Tribal leaders have announced to stage demonstration here on Thursday demanding

immediate implementation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of

Forest Rights) Act, 2006.The leaders, who have united under the banner of the state chapter of Campaign

For Survival And Dignity, criticised the Union Government saying even after four months of passing of this

Act in Parliament, it had not been notified. Pointing out that tribal lands were under threat, Gopinath Majhi,

the state convener of the movement, said the State Government was encroaching upon tribal land through

different schemes such as compensatory plantation, joint forest management and bio-diesel plantation. At

a press conference here on Monday, he alleged, “forest department has been trying to take up plantations

on land cultivated by tribals and other forest dwellers in order to evict the tribals in Balangir, Nuapada and

Kandhamal district.” Tribals particular were facing hardships due to attempts by the government to acquire

their lands for corporate houses and contractors, be it in the name of mining or development or special

economic zones, he alleged. Taking strong exceptions to Tribal Advisory Council’s recent

recommendation to allow tribals to mortgage their land for loans, the leaders said the Government was

trying to dilute the constitutional protection for tribal land in the scheduled area by manipulating existing

law. (The Hindu 8/5/07)

---

Tribals cry halt to eviction drive (6)

BHUBANESWAR: With the notification of the Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers

(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act getting delayed, hundreds of tribals and forest dwellers on Thursday

took out a rally on the Mahatma Gandhi Street demanding a halt to the drive to evict them from forests of

the State. The protesters also took strong exception to a recent attempt to amend the Orissa Scheduled

areas Transfer of Immovable property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956 (OSATIP). “Even after four

months of the passing of the Act, it has not been notified. The Forest Department is continuing with

eviction of tribal and forest dwellers from forestland in many tribal dominated district such as Bolangir,

Kandhamal, Nuapada and Sundargarh,” State convenor of Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD)

Gopinath Majhi said. Alleging that the action of the Forest Department was against the spirit of the law and

mandate of Parliament, he said the eviction drive was taken up in the guise of Joint Forest Management

and plantation programmes to alienate forest dwellers from their traditionally cultivated forestland. He

demanded that all gram sabhas be vested with supreme authority to determine forest rights. The

protesters demanded that all forced land acquisition in Scheduled V areas be stopped. (The Hindu

11/5/07)

---

Historian moves SC against Judum (6)

NEW DELHI, MAY 17 : Historian and social activist Ramchandra Guha today approached the Supreme

Court challenging the Salwa Judum movement, which was launched in June 2005 to combat Naxalism in

Dantewara district of Chhattisgarh. Following brief arguments, the apex court issued notice to the

Chhattisgarh Government on the petition which seeks direction to the state to refrain from supporting and

encouraging the movement. A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V

Raveendran issued notice to the state and directed it to file a reply before the next date of hearing. It was

contended by the petitioner that the movement had intensified violence. Senior Counsel T Andhirijuna,

appearing for the petitioner, said: “Far from being a peaceful campaign, Salwa Judum activists are armed

with guns, lathis, axes, bows and arrows.” “As of January 2007, more than 47,000 people were living in

relief camps. The condition of these camps are deplorable. Nutrition, especially child nutrition, has been

badly affected with inmates of these camps receiving scant rations,” he said. He submitted that the

residents of the district were forced by the security forces and activists of the movement to leave their

villages and live in these camps. The petitioner also sought an independent inquiry into the alleged human

rights violations. (Indian Express 18/5/07)

---

Workshop to sensitise tribals on forest laws (6)

BERHAMPUR: A workshop was organised on Thursday at Dambapud village of Rayagada block in

Gajapati district to sensitise tribals on the recent forest Acts passed by Parliament. Around 40 tribal

leaders from various villages of the block participated in this workshop organised by National Campaign

for Survival and Dignity. These participants would create peer groups at their villages to make tribals stand

up for their legal rights in forests, said Achyut Gamang, a participant. The participants were advised to

hold village-level meetings to make others know what they learnt. The tribals were requested to be hand in

hand with the forest department to help in correct mapping of forests. They were advised to be in touch

with government officials to pass on information regarding happenings in forests for the protection of the

forests to which their livelihood is attached. The tribals also learnt about the measures to be taken by them

to get the legal documents regarding the ownership of the forestland on which they are living since

generations for over 75 years. Most of the tribals in south Orissa do not have the pattas for the land on

which they live. At times non-tribals take over this land leading to clashes and tense situations. (The Hindu

19/5/07)

---

Mass tribal conversion: RSS to look other way (6)

PUNE, May 23 : It could well become the mother of all conversions, though there are many who question

the veracity of the claim that around one lakh people from 42 nomadic tribes will converge on the state

capital on May 27 and convert to Buddhism. But the RSS seems to be in no mood to go on the offensive,

perhaps fortified by the last such attempt in Nagpur in 2006 when only a few hundred tribals turned up

despite a similar claim. Laxman Mane, a nomadic tribal writer whose autobiography Upara (Outsider) is a

landmark in Marathi literature, is currently on a statewide tour to garner support for the campaign. Mane

himself had converted to Buddhism in Nagpur on October 2, 2006, and claims the conversion event at the

Mahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai will be India’s largest religious mass conversion till date. The Sangh

Parivar has decided to ‘ignore’ it on the grounds that Buddhism is a part of the Hindu dharma. “We neither

support nor oppose the conversion of Mane and other nomadic tribals. It is their own decision and why

should we discuss it?” asked Katcheshwar Sahane, RSS Western Maharashtra prant sanghchalak. “They

are just altering the methods of worship. After all Buddhism is a part of Hindu dharma. So, it is an internal

matter of Hindus.” Sahard Kunte, Maharashtra prant prachar pramukh of Vishwa Hindu Parishad said they

were not bothered about conversions to Jainism, Sikhism or Buddhism. “Mane’s conversion will not harm

the nation or the Hinduism as Buddhism is the integral part of Hindu religion,” he said. But, Mane had a

different take on the issue. “Tribals never followed Hinduism, so there’s no question of relinquishing it. All

these years we suffered at the hands of Hindus, now we want to live as human beings. Buddhism will give

us a sense of belonging,” he said. Hardliners in the parivar are, however, livid with Mane’s “anti-Hindu”

statements. “ If we keep mum anyone will come and start speaking against Hindus. We are being told

officially that we should not react to Mane and his conversion campaign. But there are heated discussions

in the parivar on what stand we should take,” said a senior RSS leader. (Indian Express 24/5/07)

---

Tribals’ land rights subverted: Brinda Karat (6)

BHOPAL: CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Tuesday accused the Ratlam district

administration and Forest Department officials of subverting the tribals’ land rights. Ms. Karat, who

attended a public hearing at Ratlam’s Sailana Development Block on Monday and toured some villages in

the block and the neighbouring Bajna block on Tuesday, told The Hindu that the Forest Department had

dug up huge holes in all villages on the pretext of a plantation drive “anticipating that the tribals will get

permanent settlement rights once the Tribal Act is implemented.” She said tribals from about 50 villages

attended the public hearing at Sailana. Their grievance was that the Forest Department officials were

going to tribal villages and digging up holes, saying they were required for plantations. It could be inferred

from the public hearing that almost 3,000 to 3,500 tribals families were directly affected by the digging at a

time when they should be engaged in preparing the land for cultivation. Ms. Karat said the Collector told

her that he was not directly involved. However, the forest officials, who were asked to accompany her to

some villages on Tuesday, admitted that the holes had been dug up over those pieces of land that were

already in the tribals’ possession. “It is unfortunate that this is the state of affairs in a district represented

by the State Forest Minister and a Minister of State at the Centre,” she said. (The Hindu 30/5/07)

---

Tribal students, parents block road (6)

BERHAMPUR: Daringbadi in Kandhamal district was tense on Friday following an agitation by tribal

students of the local residential high school for girls and their parents. They blocked the

Daringbadi-Brahmanigaon road and laid siege to the tehsil office till evening. Additional District Magistrate

of Kandhamal district Suresh Chandra Suar, along with the Superintendent of Police, had to rush to the

spot to hold discussions with the agitators. The agitation had the support of a tribal organisation Lok

Sangram Manch. Its leaders Raghunath Padhi and Tapan Mishra led the protest in support of the

suspended in-charge headmaster of the school Devraj Sahu, who was absconding to avoid arrest. The

protesters alleged that Sahu was framed and demeaned by the police and administrative officials. It may

be recalled that on March 23, the police had to intervene to allow a new headmaster take charge. The

students opposed the new appointment and wanted Sahu to continue. This led to unruly scenes and the

school had to be closed down. The police later recovered some pornographic materials and condoms

from the room of Sahu on the school campus. The protesters, however, believe, that Sahu was implicated.

Sunita Pradhan and her father Kasinath Pradhan alleged that the police were trying to frame-up Sahu.

They alleged that on March 23 some miscreants misbehaved with the girls and the police were yet to

arrest them. They further said that Sahu was a victim of his detractors. “The fact is that not a single girl of

the school has spoken against the character and nature of Sahu,” Mr. Pradhan said. The protesters

sought legal action against police and administrative officials who, they alleged, damaged the image of the

school and its former headmaster. They relented only after Mr. Suar promised to inquire into the matter

and take action within one week. (The Hindu 2/6/07)

---

Tribals gearing up for a showdown (6)

BERHAMPUR: Tribals of Gangabada panchayat under Rayagada block in Gajapati district are joining

hands to wage a united struggle against the proposed irrigation project by the Andhra Pradesh

Government across a tributary of the Mahendratanaya near the panchayat. Resentment is brewing in

villages like Akada, Manikpatna, Khambagaon, Dimirigaon, Bengasahi and Sankuda that are situated

along the tributary on the Andhra-Orissa border. They say that the neighbouring State is planning an

irrigation project called `Nakasahi’ with an estimated cost of Rs. 33 crores. Sarpanch of Gangabada

Sumitra Sabar says that the project spells doom because it would submerge over 1,100 acres of

agricultural land and cashew orchards in the panchayat. Besides, it will affect the livelihood of some 860

persons hailing from 158 tribal families. The villagers are also worried over the prospect of submergence

of the road connecting Gangabada panchayat to Manjusa in the adjoining State, for the panchayat is more

accessible by this road. This apart, the project will also submerge some forestland, they say. While those

displaced on the Andhra Pradesh side will get some compensation, no study has been made regarding

losses on the Orissa side, the villagers rue. Stating that the neighbouring State has already completed

survey of the project and that `bhoomi puja’ is expected to be performed soon, the tribals have urged the

Chief Minister to intervene and put pressure on the Andhra government to shelve the project. They have

threatened to launch an agitation if the Orissa Government fails to protect the livelihood of tribals. (The

Hindu 3/6/07)

---

Violence erupts again in Kalinga Nagar (6)

Jajpur : Tribals attack Jindal workers for constructing boundary wall near Hudisahi After a gap of 12 days,

violence returned to Kalinga Nagar, the steel hub of India in Orissa’s Jajpur district, on Saturday. The

agitating tribals beat up three labourers engaged by Jindal Stainless Limited that has been constructing a

boundary wall near Hudisahi in the industrial complex area, 60 km from here. Sources said a private

agency was awarded the construction work of the boundary of the plant by Jindal in the industrial

area.However, about 30 tribals of the nearby Gadhapur village, armed with lethal weapons, reached the

construction site and attacked the labourers as they refused to stop the boundary wall work and leave the

site.The private security guards of the plant allegedly fired three rounds to chase the attackers. But they

fired blanks sources added. Three labourers at work sustained injuries during the attack. The injured were

rushed to the local Danagadi hospital. They have been identified as Ashok Behera of Sribantapur, Bulu

Dehury and Bishnu Dehury of Mangala Chhak in Sukinda village.Kalinga Nagar police station

officer-in-charge, Sarat Kumar Mohapatra confirmed the incident. However, no FIR was registered in this

regard. It is the third incident in a week in Jindal Stainless Limited in the emerging steel city after labourers

working with the plant were attacked on Saturday by the agitating tribals. It may be recalled that on May 21

some miscreants assaulted workers including some officers of the Jindal Company in its premises. Seven

persons including senior Manager of Power plant Vinit Jain and Security Officer, Smrutiranjan Nayak

sustained injuries following the attack.While five injured were rushed to the Danagadi Community health

centre, two of them were shifted to Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack when

their condition was deteriorated. However, some of the employees of the Jindal plant overpowered three

of the miscreants, armed with lethal weapons and handed them over to the police. (Pioneer 4/6/07)

---

Tribals demand cashew plantations restored to them (6)

Bhubaneswar : Thousands of tribals and Dalits from different parts of the State, under the banner of

Dongar Adhikar Samiti, on Wednesday took to street in protest against the anti-poor and anti-tribal

policies being followed in the cashew plantation work undertaken on community land. Samiti president

Rama Chandra Gadanayak said cashew plantations exist in 22 of the 30 districts in the State and most of

such cashew plantations were taken up in land, which was actually under cultivation by tribals and Dalits

of Machkund and several other areas of Koraput, Gajapati, Nayagarh and Ganjam. “The lands were under

shifting cultivation customarily claimed by tribal communities and their rights were not recorded during the

survey and settlement and such lands were either recorded as Government wasteland or forest land,”

Gadanayak said. He further said that during the 1960s, the State Government also took up large areas of

cashew plantations on such lands under the Government-sponsored schemes like Economic

Rehabilitation of the Rural Poor, Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Employment Assurance

Schemes, Jawhar Rojgar Yojana and Tribal Sub Plan. At that time, the impression given was that such

cashew plantations would be distributed among the landless families, but in most cases, the promise was

not kept, he added. The Samiti demanded immediate withdrawal of all cashew plantation leases from the

Orissa State Cashew Development Corporation (OSCDC) and handing them over to eligible landless

tribals and Dalits. Excess plantations left after distribution must be transferred to the village (palli sabha).

The Samiti further demanded that the Orissa State Cashew Development Corporation (OSCDC) should

be excluded from the scheduled area or at maximum be allowed for marketing, processing and extension

activities. “The recent attempt of OFDC to invite plantation on 25 villages under Machkunda area on

revenue land should be stopped and the lands should be distributed among the landless,” the Samiti said.

(Pioneer 7/6/07)

---

Tribals happy over UNICEF project (6)

BERHAMPUR: Tribals in remote areas of Ganjam district, who are yet to have identity papers for

themselves, are happy to get birth certificates of their progenies at their doorstep. A project sponsored by

the UNICEF is continuing in the district to provide birth certificates to all tribal children between the age of

1 to 14 near their homes. A tribal activist, Jagabandhu Sabar of Beguniapada area said: “At least the birth

certificates of our children would prove that we are living on jungle land for generations other wise who will

come over to these remote places to give birth certificates to their children.” Sabar is enthusiastic about

the project as according to him these birth certificates would provide some proof regarding their ownership

of the land on which tribals stay in jungles. Owning to efforts of the village level health workers, most of

the births get registered but the tribals, due to their ignorance, do not collect birth certificates. When they

try to collect the birth certificates after years they get dissuaded by the long bureaucratic process and the

money involved. Mangaraj Panda, the director of United Artists, which has joined hands with the UNICEF

to take up the project said, usually births in tribal areas are recorded without names to get names put on

the certificates needs deposition of Rs. 2 as treasury challan which is a cumbersome process for an

ignorant tribal. It was an effort to get together a notary public, local tehsildar, doctor of the local primary

health centre at a particular point in tribal areas to issue birth certificates at the spot after on the spot

verification of children. Till now birth certificates have been issued to the parents of 2024 tribal children

living in remote areas of 11 blocks of Ganjam district. This work could be done through 26 camps. On

June 22 a meeting is to be held where administrative officials, health officials, parent representatives from

tribal villages would get together to decide upon the future course of action so that the tribals can get birth

certificates for their children in time near their homes. (The Hindu 8/6/07)

---

‘Father’s surname will lead to loss of tribal identity’ (6)

Shillong, June 7: The Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council Chief Executive member H S Shylla has

said whoever takes surname from the father’s side would lose his tribal identity. This is bad news for the

Synkhon Ka Rympei Thymmai, which has been advocating for taking up father’s surname. Meghalaya

follows the matrilineal system where the surname is taken up from the mother’s side. However, there is a

movement initiated by the Synkhon Ka Rympei Thymmai to discard the matrilineal system and follow the

patriarchal system. Shylla also said the children born out of wedlock of a tribal and non-tribal couple would

be considered a tribal and would get all the benefits of a schedule tribe. He said the district council has the

Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council Khasi Social Custom of Lineage Act 1997 and according to the

Act, the offspring of a tribal and a non-tribal is considered a tribal. He asserted that “if a woman is a tribal,

her offspring can claim scheduled tribe status.” The decision of the district council to continue with the act

by according the schedule tribe status to the children born out of non-tribal father and tribal mother is

contradictory to the Supreme Court ruling that children born out of the non-tribal father and tribal mother

cannot be treated as a tribal. Shylla said the SC ruling is applicable only to the Oraon tribe which has a

patriarchal system unlike in Meghalaya which follows a matrilineal system. However, acting on the

Supreme Court ruling the Income Tax department has decided not to allow exemption of income tax to

children born out of wedlock of non-tribal father and tribal mother. The Chief Executive also said if a tribal

man marries a non-tribal woman, the Act applies where the man can get another Khasi surname by a

system called Tang Jait ( giving a new surname). (Indian Express 8/6/07)

---

Jharkhand teachers to learn tribal languages (6)

RANCHI, JUNE 13: Backed by a constitutional mandate enshrined in Article 350 A, that primary education

be imparted in mother tongue, the Jharkhand Government is set to make the knowledge of local tribal and

non-tribal language compulsory for teachers in state-run schools. According to the 2001 Census report,

the male and female literacy rates in Jharkhand are 67.94 per cent and 39.39 per cent, respectively. The

dropout rate is estimated to be around 55 per cent. It is the second highest after Bihar. State’s towns and

villages have witnessed mushrooming of primary schools where tribal students either speak in Santhali,

Mundari, Oraon, Kharia or Khorta. The teachers, however, communicate with them in Hindi, Bengali, Oriya

and Urdu. “Due to this language dualism, local students often do not find education interesting forcing

some of them to drop out of the school,” said J B Tubid, Secretary (HRD). “Most teachers employed in

these schools communicate in Hindi. Our plan is to encourage them to learn any one of the local

languages so that they can do their job well,” he said. (Indian Express 14/6/07)

Abducted tribals axed to death (6)

RAIPUR, JUNE 13 : Two tribals, who were abducted by extremists last week, have been killed and their

bodies were dumped on the roadside in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Dantewada district. The two men

were among the nine tribal daily workers who were taken hostage by Maoists last week. The victims were

abducted from Bande village of Dantewada district by 25 armed Maoists when they were returning from a

Government-run employment generating scheme. All nine—including two women—were staying at the

Konta relief camp. The Maoists freed four men on June 10 and had not put forward any demand to

release the remaining five. “We found the bodies of the two tribal hostages early on Wednesday from

Konta area. They had multiple injury marks, around the neck,” a senior police officer said. “The two men

were brutally axed to death,” he added. He said three persons were still being held captive and state

police teams were combing the forested hideouts of Maoists to secure their safe release. In a major action

targeting civilian population in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh last week, Maoist extremists had kidnapped

12 people, including two women, from Dantewada and Narayanpur districts of the area. (Indian Express

14/6/07)

---

Tribal women work out a water marvel, harvest spring with wisdom (6)

Malkangiri : When the current dictum of a global village is the common refrain, the State machinery itself

gets inaccessible to the State’s inaccessible terrain and remote tribal areas, where the basic minimum

needs remain only a farfetched reality and the inhabitants struggle against the adversities to earn their

livelihood. This is what the story is about a remote tribal village Mahupadar in Malkangiri district, which is

surrounded by hills and dense forests. And almost similar is the story about four other villages Kantamadi,

Khilguda, Balichua and Bandaguda that lie cradled between two hills and are bereft of any roads, potable

water or any other basic facilities. Government officials neither visit the villages nor are they come under

any governmental welfare schemes. Handicapped by the non-availability of any groundwater source or

surface water, an acute water scarcity was haunting the villagers for decades. Summer used to make their

lives miserable, and in rainy season they used to tap water from small shallow places for their daily use

exposing them to the harmful effects of unclean water. However, for the tribals, nature was not too harsh;

only 2 km away a perennial spring flows down the hill, and for the 800 people of these five villages, this

was the lone water source to quench their thirst. From dawn to dusk, people queued up here to collect a

pot of water, and being in a dense forest, the attack of wildly beasts always lurks in their minds. Even men

armed with bows, arrows and other sharp edged weapons were a common sight then. Many cases of tiger

attacks were even reported then. Given the problem of beastly attacks and scaling up the unfriendly

terrains, to collect water was virtually impossible daily. Also, the water flow gets reduced in the summers.

How to bring the water down the hill always stirred their minds, especially the female members, who bore

the brunt of collecting water daily. Up came some eight women, prominent among them are Choini Khara,

Gurubari Khil and Kamala Dantal, and they organised a meeting in Mahupadar to find a solution to this

vexing problem. Despite not having any technical background, the women decided to use long bamboo

logs at the mouth of the spring to divert the water down the hills to avail it.

Unsatisfied, as water scarcity still dogged them, the women then devised another novel technique, taking

the wooden logs from forest, they cut it into boat like shapes and put them at the mouth of the spring to

channel it completely to their village door-step and collected it in a reservoir. The interesting fact is, by this,

neither the spring water strays out anywhere nor a single drop got wasted. More so, they converted these

wood logs as water pipes and wrapped cloth at its mouth to collect the clean water for daily use. Indeed, a

novel water project by illiterate tribal women, that not only catered to their drinking water needs but also

other water imperatives. These indefatigable women didn’t rest on their laurels, rather, they with a fistful of

food grains and little amount of money goes on to form a SHG (Self Help Group) named Maa Padmabati,

only to modernise their this novel water project. The male folk by constructing another water reservoir put

the water for agricultural use to cultivate rice, jowar, pulses etc. Excited at this marvel, the village chief

Balram Dantal eulogised both the women and the nature for bringing water to the villages. Although the

water problem more or less solved but the problems that still dogs the villagers are of health, education

and transport. The villages lack all weather roads and schools. Result: Children go to forests along with

their parents to collect wood, kendu leaves or mahul. Healthcare services does not exist even by name, in

case some fell ill, villagers carry him on a bed to faraway Korakunda PHC for treatment. Although a variety

of tribes inhabit the villages like in Mahupadar and Bantaguda, lives the Paraja, Rana, Ghadhava and

Bhumiya tribes, whereas in Khiliguda, Kantamadhi and Balichua, Khond and Paraja tribes inhabits, but all

live so in complete harmony. Like other tribals, they too observe number of festivals and on these

occasions, right form old to youth entertain by participating in folk dances like Dhangda-Dhingdi (for young

boys and girls) and Dukura-Dikiri (for old men and women) and sipping the Salap (liquor) in togetherness.

The ironical fact here is, these very tribals, are in fact got displaced due the Machakund Water Project and

resided here. But they are still to get land pattas even after decades. Let aside land rights, the

Government did not bother to provide electricity, roads, health centres, and schools or say any so-called

welfare schemes like PDS. Result: to procure kerosene they have to spend Rs 20/litre and at night, many

either quietly sleep or lit a wood log to carry out routine works. This paints Government’s so-called

rehabilitation measures in very poor light and for this there are very few takers to Government’s

displacement drives. (Pioneer 19/6/07)

---

Draft National Tribal Policy ready (6)

New Delhi : The Tribal Affairs Ministry is ready with the draft proposal for formulating the National Tribal

Policy. The Ministry officials said that the draft would be sent to the Cabinet soon for approval. The

proposed policy envisages all-round social and economic development of tribals while preserving their

traditional and customary systems. The officials said that the draft proposal was prepared after holding

detailed consultations with different States, departments and NGOs. The policy would provide a conducive

environment for the preservation of traditional and customary systems and regime of rights and

concessions enjoyed by different ST communities and reconciliation of modes of their socio-economic

development. The officials said that the policy would help in bridging the gap in the Human Development

Index (HDI) of tribals and the general population. The UPA in its Common Minimum Programme has

pledged to protect the rights of tribal communities and their socio-economic development. The policy

would also facilitate translation of the Constitutional safeguards into reality with simultaneous

socio-economic development, protection and vesting of rights of STs on forest lands. (Pioneer 20/6/07)

---

Hearing in tribal youth detention case concludes (6)

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday reserved its judgment after completing the hearing over

sensational case pertaining to illegal detention of a tribal youth in jail custody for over eight years even as

the youth accused of murder charges was exonerated by the High Court. The bench of Chief Justice A K

Ganguly and Justice Indrajit Mohanty reserved their verdict after a marathon hearing of the PIL that was

filed by a social activist and lawyer. Petitioner’s advocate Prabir Kumar Das had urged the court to

adequately compensate the victim, who has turned lunatic due to illegal confinement. The police arrested

one Pratap Naik of Ghimuhani village under Puruna Katak police station in Boudh district in connection

with a murder case in 1992. The boy was 14-year-old when he was first sent to jail by the Phulbani district

and session’s judge court. He was, however, acquitted by the High Court in October 1994, but was

released from jail only on January 22, 2003, after more than eight years of the HC order. Though the HC

had exonerated Naik of murder charges, a clerk at the lower court did not place the HC order before the

Phulbani district judge for necessary actions to release the tribal youth. As a result, he was kept in illegal

custody from January 17, 1995 to July 22, 2003; the PIL said seeking a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the

boy for illegal detention in jail. Arguing the case, Mr Das on Wednesday told the bench that due to illegal

detention for a long period, the boy was now suffering from severe mental ailment and was currently under

treatment at a hospital. “The victim’s mental health had deteriorated due to long confinement. He is

undergoing psychiatric treatment at VSS Medical College Hospital in Burla and is finding it very difficult to

meet the hospital expenses”, Mr Das said. (The Hindu 21/6/07)

Tribals give up road blockade plan (6)

BERHAMPUR: Tribals called off their planned road blockade at Mohana in Gajapati district on

Wednesday following written promises by the authorities concerned. Tribals of Mohana block had given a

call for 12-hour road blockade at Mohana on Wednesday under the banner of tribal organisation, Lok

Sangram Manch (LSM). On Tuesday night, the authorities decided to hold discussions with the tribal

leaders over their genuine demands. According to Santosh Mallik, general secretary of LSM, the

administrative officials also gave in writing to take steps to fulfill the demands of the tribals as early as

possible. Satisfied with the concern shown by the authorities the tribal organisation decided to call off the

stir for the time being. As the tribals living in remote areas had not received any information about the

calling off of the agitation, many of them reached Mohana on Wednesday morning. Gajapati sub-collector

Madhav Chandra Bariha, Mohana tehsildar Bipin Chandra Mohapatra and the local Block Development

Officer held discussions with these tribals and their leaders at block office. (The Hindu 21/6/07)

---

Jharkhand backwards up in arms against return of ST Bill (6)

Ranchi : Backward communities in Jharkhand are up in arms against Union Govern-ment’s decision to

return the Bill to include them in Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. The social Welfare and Schedule Tribe

Ministry of Central Government this month returned the Bill which had recommended to include six

backward communities in ST category. According to sources in Jharkhand Government the Ministry

returned the Bill asking the State Government first to do a thorough study on these castes through Tribal

Research Institute (TRI) Ranchi. The Arjun Munda Hovernment had sent the Bill after passage in the

State Assembly in December 2004 just before the 2005 Assembly elections. The six castes were Kurmi,

Biar, Teli, Mahto, Khatori and Ghatwar. These castes were demanding inclusion of their names in ST

category for a long time and the demand got momentum after the State was carved out from Bihar in

2000. These castes claim that they were in the ST list in 1913 but their caste names were deleted from

the ST list in 1950.

The Central Government decision to return the Bill has invited sharp reaction from backward communities.

“The Central Government’s motive is not clear. If the Government wanted to clear the Bill then it could

have passed it in the Parliament instead of sending back for research work,”

said Jaleshwar Mahto, a Janata Dal(U) legislator and State party president. Echoing his view former

Home Minister and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) chief Sudesh Mahto said, “The State

Government should expedite the research work and send the report to the centre so that these castes

could be included in ST category. There is proof that Kurmi and Mahto were in ST list before 1950.”

“Congress is playing politics over the issue. The Central Government kept the Bill pending for three years

and now it has sent it back. We will soon convene a meeting of Kurmi leaders and decide the future

course of action and how to put pressure on both the State and Central Government to push the Bill,” said.

(Pioneer 23/6/07)

---

Dantewada: Naxals abduct 13 tribals, release three (6)

RAIPUR, JUNE 24 : Maoist cadres today abducted 13 civilians, including six women and three children,

from Maraiguda village in Dantewada district. The tribals were abducted when they were returning from a

marriage ceremony at a village along the Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh border. Sources in the police said

while two women and a child have been released, 10 people are still in the custody of Maoists. “Those

abducted were returning from Bangagudem village of Khammam district in Andhra Pradesh after

attending a wedding,” IG (Bastar) R K Vij said. The abducted persons were all living in the government-run

relief camp at Maraiguda in the Naxal-infested Dantewada district. “A combing operation has been

launched and police parties have been rushed to help track down the abducted people,” said Vij. This is

not the first time that Naxalites have targeted civilians. On June 10, Left-wing extremists had kidnapped

12 people from Dantewada and Narayanpur districts. Two of these tribals were later killed and their bodies

dumped near the roadside. According to sources in the police, Maoists have started targeting the civilian

population in a bid to gather intelligence inputs regarding Salwa Judum operations in the area. “Over the

past few weeks we have seen an increase in such incidents and believe that Naxalites are trying to seek

information regarding security deployment around Salwa Judum camps, movement of the force and other

local intelligence,” a senior police officer said. Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh Police is on high alert to foil

the Maoist plan of an economic blockade of Bastar and Sarguja during the forthcoming week. Fearing

violence during the blockade, additional security personnel have been deployed in various districts. (Indian

Express 25/6/07)

---

CPI demands end to tribals’ problems (6)

Bhubaneswar : The CPI’s Koraput committee on Wednesday staged a dharna in front of the State

Assembly and demanded immediate Government intervention to put an end to the problems of the poor

tribal people. They alleged that even though their home district is full of natural resources like land, water

and forests, political leaders and corrupt officers have exploited its tribal population over the years. The

members demanded a CBI inquiry into the group clash that occurred at Kerkenda under Borigumma

block, in which a poor tribal Trilochan Ganda was killed in April. According to them, Jeypore Sub-Collector

had directed 50 beneficiaries to take possession and get benefit from the cashew fencing that borders

Kerkenda village as per the Orissa Scheduled Area Transfer of Immovable Property case No-8/2006. His

direction was also upheld by the High Court while disposing of the writ petition (civil) No-7022/2006.

Although it was given to the beneficiaries by duly constituting the village committee on December 9, 2006,

surprisingly it was given to all the villagers on April 8, 2007 in the presence of the Sub-Collector,

Borigumma Tehsildar and Circle Inspector of Borigumma, which resulted in a group clash leading to

Trilochan’s death. They demanded immediate resettlement and rehabilitation of the tribal people in the

forest land. Moreover, they demanded that the Dorua community residing in Koraput be declared tribal

with immediate effect. (Pioneer 28/6/07)

C’garh tribals still beyond growth loop: Report (6)

Raipur, June 28 : The Chhattisgarh Human Development report, recently awarded the prestigious Human

Development Award of the United Nations, has revealed that little has changed for the inhabitants of the

state’s tribal districts who continue to be engaged in traditional employment. The report, commissioned by

the United Nations Development Programme and published in 2005, said there was urgent need to

address the economic situation as an overwhelming majority of the population of tribal dominated districts

continued to be engaged in traditional employment. The report revealed that 78 per cent of the rural

households were farmers. Of them, only 1.5 per cent were familiar with modern agricultural practices like

use equipment, chemical fertilisers and HYV seeds. It was suggested that modern methods of cultivation

should be introduced while there should be public-private partnership to develop irrigation resources in

such areas as the bulk of land under cultivation in the districts remained dependent on monsoons. This

dependence also led to forced migration as a part of the population living in these villages relocated every

year in search of work. The report revealed that despite the presence of companies and public sector

undertakings like the National Mining Development Corporation, which carried out mining and quarrying

activity in tribals areas, the income generated did not go to the rural population. “The per capita income of

many districts seems to be high, but it may not necessarily reflect the situation on the ground,” the report

said. Giving an example the report said after subtracting the income from mining and quarrying, the per

capita income in Korba district dropped to nearly half, from Rs 33,763 to Rs 17,116, effectively bringing

Korba down to fifth position from the first position on the per capita income list. The same was the case

with Dantewara district where the per capita income drops from Rs 12,060 to Rs 9,133 per annum if

income from mining and quarrying was removed. The first ever Human Development Report prepared by

the state also revealed that the tribal districts of the state also witnessed an alarmingly high number of

infant mortalities. While the state infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births was recorded at 73 in 2003, the

scenario was grim in the tribal-dominated districts of Bastar (104), Korea (103), Rajnandgaon (112),

Kabirdham (96) and Kanker (86). “The high infant mortality rate indicates poor health services and

facilities which warrant immediate Government intervention in the health sector,” the report concluded.

(Indian Express 29/6/07)

---

VHP looking, tribal facing cow slaughter charges shot by MP cops (6)

BHOPAL, JULY 3: A tribal, accused of suppressing information about an incident of cow slaughter, was

shot dead by a police constable in Jhabua district on Monday evening. Thirty-year-old Ramesh Vasunia, a

resident of Jhapda village, was returning home with his family members when his bike was stopped by two

constables, who were accompanied by VHP leader Kamlesh Jain, at Piplipada Road. Vasunia’s

explanation that he was returning home after purchasing some material for his farm did not cut ice with

Jain and the constables, and an altercation ensued. Vasunia’s family members, who were present at the

spot, said Vasunia was dragged away and shot following the exchange of words. Jhabua SP Umesh Joga

told The Indian Express on Tuesday that Jain and other VHP activists had insisted on the policemen

accompanying them to follow up a lead about cow slaughter. The constables initially refused saying there

was no staff to man the chowky but gave in when the VHP men warned that they would complain to senior

police officials that the police were hand in glove with those involved in cow slaughter. Joga confirmed that

neither cows nor beef was found in the area. Immediately after the shooting, the VHP leaders fled from

the spot leaving the policemen to defend themselves in front of angry tribals who soon gathered in large

numbers. The situation took a turn for the worse when the tribals insisted that they would cremate the

body inside the police chowky in keeping with a local custom. A murder victim is cremated in the hut of the

person accused of killing him. The tribals accused the police of murder in cold blood and demanded that

the two constables be punished immediately. District Collector Rajkumar Pathak said the administration

had a tough time convincing the angry tribals to hold the cremation elsewhere. He said a magisterial

inquiry had been ordered and the culprits would be penalised after the inquiry committee submitted its

report. Joga claimed that the victim had a criminal record and four cases had been registered against him.

Jhabua Congress chief Kalavati Bhuria alleged that Vasunia was shot dead because VHP leaders

instigated the policemen to do so. “Where are the cows and where is the beef?” she asked, demanding

that Jain, who is absconding, be arrested immediately. Bhuria said the police had failed to register an FIR

even 24 hours after the incident. She added that the police forced the victim’s family to agree for a hasty

post mortem in order to suppress facts. (Indian Express 4/7/07)

---

Tribal groups caught in armed conflicts (6)

NEW DELHI: More and more indigenous groups and tribal peoples in mainland India are finding

themselves caught in armed conflicts between Maoists and various State governments since 2004

following the formation of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). A report on the ‘State of India’s

Indigenous and Tribal Peoples 2007,’ brought out by the Asian Indigenous and Tribal People’s Network —

an alliance of indigenous and tribal people organisations that seeks to promote and protect these groups

— has pointed out that while the adivasis or the indigenous groups do not share the dreams of the

Maoists of establishing a proletariat state in India, the naxalites speak the language to which the

indigenous peoples’ plight can be related to. “The naxalite movement is neither an adivasi movement nor

is it led by them, but the indigenous groups do form the majority of the cadres of the naxalites,” the report

points out while adding that since June 2006, the Chhattisgarh Government has directly involved the

adivasi civilians in the conflict with the Naxalites through the anti-naxalite Salwa Judum — the so-called

peace campaign. At present, 21 of the 28 States are affected by armed conflicts. Apart from Jammu and

Kashmir, the seven northeastern States are facing armed conflict over the demand for autonomy and 13

other States, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, are witnessing

the naxalite ideological war, according to the report. With the exception of Jammu and Kashmir, conflicts

in all other States or areas involve indigenous people. (The Hindu 8/7/07)

---

Tribal’s death: Cops seek to blame victim (6)

BHOPAL I JULY 7: In a travesty of justice, the police are busy looking for the criminal records of a tribal

who was shot dead in Jhabua after being accused of suppressing information about an incident of cow

slaughter, which never took place. Ramesh Basunia, 30, was shot dead in Piplipada village on July 2

when he was on his way home in Zayda village. Four days after the incident, the police have registered

only a case under Section 304 of culpable homicide against an unknown police constable. Jhabua SP

Umesh Joga said the police had followed guidelines issued by NHRC by recording the post mortem and

by instituting an inquiry by a senior officer from another district. Trouble began when VHP activists led by

Kamlesh Jain forced constables Ratan and Dhirendra from Antarvelia police chowky to accompany them

to a place they said cows had either been slaughtered or being taken for slaughter. Jain threatened even

the constables that he would complain against them if they failed to accompany him. According to the

police, the victim had a criminal background and even those accompanying him on July 2 were involved in

some crime or the other. The police are trying to make a case that since Ramesh had a criminal

background he got scared on seeing the constables and attacked them in desperation. In his FIR,

Ramesh’s brother Teetu, however, said the police tried to give a chase and fired in the air. Ramesh who

was standing on an elevated stretch of road was hit and died on the spot. Meanwhile, MPCC chief

Subhash Yadav met the Governor and the CM on Saturday and demanded a judicial inquiry into the

incident. (Indian Express 8/7/07)

---

Sangh is ill-treating adivasis: Congress (6)

Bhopal, July 8: The Madhya Pradesh Congress on Saturday reiterated its old charge that the RSS and its

subsidiaries like the VHP and the Sewa Bharti were calling the shots in tribal-dominated Jhabua district

and subjecting poor adivasis to considerable torture. MPCC president Subhash Yadav told newspersons

after a visiting the district that those opposed to the Sangh’s edicts risked being decimated. The recent

incident involving the killing of an adivasi of Rayda village, Ramesh Basuniya, was an eye-opener on the

goings-on at Jhabua. On July 2 Ramesh and his wife were cornered by cops of the Meghnagar PS, with

the former pummelled to death on the basis of a “false” oral complaint by two VHP activists that he was

carting beef. Three bullets were fired. It was only after the anger of locals was aroused that the police

registered a case against unknown assassins. The post-mortem was conducted at 11 pm against all

norms, and the body delivered to his kin at 9 am the next day. What was reprehensible, said Mr Yadav,

was that the police fired tear gas shells at the crowds during his funeral procession. “Both the collector

and the SP seemed openly biased.” Such was the Sangh’s clout. The Congress, he said, would file a

private complaint in case Ramesh’s killers were not immediately arrested. The matter would also be

raised in the state Assembly during its coming Monsoon Session beginning on the 18th of July. Mr Yadav

also accused the state administration of complete inaction against the continued injustices meted out to

the Christian community in MP. There have been 81 attacks on Christian-run schools and places of

worship by militant Hindu outfits since the BJP came to power. No efforts, however, were made to initiate

action against thewrong doers anywhere. The BJP government was not even making a pretence of

justice, said the MPCC chief. (Asian Age 9/7/07)

---

Gujarat pre-poll games: Cong tells tribals to claim forest land rights, Act will follow (6)

NEW DELHI, JULY 9: Months before Assembly elections are slated to be held in Gujarat, the Congress

has started distributing application forms among the state’s tribals, exhorting them to claim their right on

forest land. The party is expanding its reach among the tribals in anticipation that the draft rules to

implement the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act,

2006, will be finalised and enforced shortly by the UPA government. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs sought

public comment on the draft rules last month. According to sources in the Congress, the government will

consider public suggestions and bring the rules into force some time next month. Elections are likely to be

held in Gujarat towards the end of this year. The Congress has launched the exercise to get tribals to

claim their rights (over land, minor forest produce, etc) as provided in the said Act. For instance, in

Sabarkantha district, 30,000 application forms drafted by the party have been sent to tribal families so far.

“About 13,000 families have already filled up the forms and sent them to our office. In these forms, they

have given details of the land they cultivate and live on and on which they have rights,” Sabarkantha MP

Madhusudan Mistry told The Indian Express on phone. “Once the exercise is complete, we will send the

forms to the state government for action.” Scheduled Tribes play a decisive role in electing one-fourth of

the 182-member state Assembly. Of the total, 26 seats are reserved for STs. Tribals and OBCs together

dominate 21 other seats, said a Congress source. Of the 25 revenue districts, 11 are dominated by tribals,

he said. Gujarat’s tribal areas are emerging as the busy arena for pre-poll political games between Chief

Minister Narendra Modi’s government and the Congress. “After Sonia Gandhi’s January rally at Devgadh

Baria drew a massive response, Modi announced a package worth Rs 15,000 crore for tribals. But he has

not explained where the money will come from and how it will be spent,” said B K Hari Prasad, AICC

general secretary in charge of Gujarat. The Congress also launched a 13-day tribal “awakening” rally

covering 10 districts, where the forest rights Act was the central theme. The party now plans to intensify its

programmes from the next month to mobilise tribals around this theme. (Indian Express 10/7/07)

---

Moments of glory in life of tribals (6)

KORAPUT: Dasi Nayak, a tribal head in his fifties from Rangabali Kumbha village near Koraput town, is

the happiest man these days. And why not. He would be God-king of Koraput on Monday. He would

perform the rituals on the divine chariot of the three Lords at Sabara Srikhetra that the King

Purusottamdev does in Srikhetra of Puri by performing Cherapahanra , the holy sweeping on the chariot

on the occasion of car festival . Even for one day he is the king , Danai Nayak, his wife said with pride.

Dasi, a landlord in his village, works as chief mason for quite a long time . However since the time he took

charge to perform the divine work on the chariot, he has dedicated all his work in Jagannath temple

premises for giving a divine touch to construction work , Dasi said. Now it was time for agriculture and a lot

of work had to be done in his 50 acres of land back in the village . But it was a call from the divine and

especially when the three Lords were resting in the inner most house of the temple for the last fortnight, he

had to be in the temple. He had to visit the temple at least twice a day to offer prayer as no one else

except him was allowed to go in while the Lords were taking rest in the temple. This was one of the

moments of pride that has been offered to the tribals at Sabara Srikhetra . Starting from preparing the

food for the Lords in the temple to offering the first fruits on the chariot , tribals are given top priority, he

added. Tribals from Upper Kondapalli are a part of the temple and also perform rituals in the temple on a

regular basis , Krushna Chandra Panigrahy, secretary of the temple said . With this kind of importance

being offered to the tribals , devotees from far and wide get attracted to take part in the car festival at

Koraput every year. The heads of tribal villages around Koraput would be honoured on the day at the

chariot with scarf by the District Collector while their fellow villagers continue dancing dressed in their

traditional dress and costumes. With the wheels of the chariot rolling on the highway carrying the Lords,

the event in the annual cycle of festivals and rituals on Monday will be unique, he added. (The Hindu

14/7/07)

---

Workshop for tribals ends (6)

BERHAMPUR: Over 300 tribals from R. Udaygiri block participated in a three-day workshop held to

sensitise them about their rights and steps for emancipation at Sialalati village under Cheligada panchyat.

Gender issues and processes for emancipation of women was a major point of discussion at the

workshop which concluded on Monday. (The Hindu 17/7/07)

Tribal women take centre stage at Sabara Srikhetra (6)

KORAPUT: With balloons in hands and large plastic flowers on their head, tribal women attended the car

festival in thousands at Sabara Srikhetra, Koraput, on Monday. Clad in beautiful sarees, they

accompanied their family men and children from far and wide from different parts of the district . Rituals as

per the tradition began from the early hours in the temple, while the divine chariot was made ready

standing on the National Highway at a distance of at least 400 meters from the temple. The three Lords

were taken out of the temple for Pahandi by 1 p.m.and were carried by devotees. The Lords were

swinging like dolls in the crowd while they were carried collectively by devotees to the chariot one by one.

The journey to the chariot was filled with joyful dance and music by the tribals. Various dance troupes from

the district and outside reached the district headquarters to exhibit their love for the Lords. Heavy rain too

could not hamper the interest in people from being a part of the celebration. Dasi Nayak, a tribal headman

from Rangabali Kumbha, performed the divine sweeping, Cherapahanra, on the chariot. Balakrushna

Sahu, district Collector and U.R. Rao, SP of Koraput, followed him all along tribal village heads and

volunteers of the temple were felicitated on the chariot by the district Collector. Tribals from Upper

Kondapali village were the first to offer fruits and flowers before the Lords on the chariot. Sanjib Hota,

Election Commissioner, C.T.M. Suguna, RDC, Southern Division, Pyarimohan Mahapatro, MP, and

Arabindo Padhee , Director, Department of Agriculture were among the top level dignitaries arrived from

the State capital to attend the celebration. While the chariot carrying the three Lords reached Mousima

temple by 5 p.m. after two-hour journey, the impression of the festival was carried to numerous number of

tiny villages in the district through flutes and whistles that the children had purchased from the fair.

Similarly, the chariots of the three Lords were drawn by devotees at Sunabeda and Damanjodi amidst

heavy rain while the chariots would move at Jeypore and Kotia on Tuesday. (The Hindu 17/7/07)

---

Tribals’ Rath Yatra at Sabar Srikshetra (6)

Jeypore : The famous Rath Yatra at Koraput town known as Sabar Srikshetra, which is totally managed by

Sabar tribals, was observed with great enthusiasm and religious fervour. The festival here has come to

occupy the second important position after the Rath Yatra at Puri. The chariot here is built only by the

Sabars, and the rituals, including the Chhera Panhara (the sacred sweeping of the chariot), are also

managed by them. This year the sweeping of the chariot was done by Disari Nayak. The Pahandi Bije of

Lord Jagannath was completed by 1 pm. There was a congregation of 40,000 devotees on the Grand

Road to have a look at the Lord of the Universe.The dignitaries, including the founder of Sabar Srikhetra

and Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra, Jeypore MLA Rabi Narayan Nanda, Koraput MLA

Tara Prasad Bahinipati, State Election Commissioner Sanjeeb Hota, Agriculture Director Arvind Kumar

Padhy, RDC (Southern) CTM Suguna, Koraput Collector Balakrishna Sahu dragged the chariot and

encouraged the devotees. Koraput being a Maoist-infested area and always under the threat of the

militants’ attack, the police managed the festival with great care and caution without any law and order

situation. The temple and its tradition began way back in 1980 at the initiative of Pyari Mohan Mohapatra,

who was then the Chief Administrator of the Dandakaranya Project. He started the construction of the

temple, which has now turned quite famous and carved a special tourist destination in south Orissa in the

name of Sabar Srikhetra. Mohapatra comes here every year on the occasion of the Rath Yatra. (Pioneer

20/7/07)

---

MP can’t explain tribal death (6)

Bhopal, July 24: The state government was put to considerable embarrassment in the state Assembly on

Tuesday following its abject failure to come up with a credible explanation behind the circumstances which

led to the killing of an innocent tribal (Ramesh Vasuniya), on July 2 at the hands of Vishwa Hindu Parishad

(VHP) men near Meghnagar, Jhabua district. The matter came up for discussion after Congress MLA

Satyadev Katare sought the Chair’s permission on the admissibility of an adjournment motion on the

subject. Citing the bare facts, he said, the victim and his wife were held up on the road by VHP men, while

they were on their way to Jhaida village from Meghnagar on a motorbike. Among the hoodlums was the

VHP district chief, Kamlesh Jain, who demanded to see Ramesh’s licence. When he failed to produce it,

he was first abused and roughed up by the self-appointed guardians of the law, and then in unison with

the police from the Atarwalia police station who made a timely appearance. When he tried running for his

life, Ramesh was shot by the police and died instantly. To cover up, the victim was brought to the hospital

and a hasty post-mortem conducted with the help of “cooperative” doctors. What’s worse is that when the

victim’s wife sought to register an FIR, not only was her version not recorded, she was also forced to give

her thumb impression on a blank piece of paper. Predictably enough, conspicuously missing in her

complaint were the names of the VHP men as well as witnesses to the killing, whose identities had been

furnished by her. The police even tried compelling the local villagers to organise a quick cremation. (Asian

Age 25/7/07)

---

Protest against hydel projects in Sikkim (6)

NEW DELHI: Members of the Lepcha tribe of Sikkim are up in arms against the Centre’s proposal to build

a series of mega hydro power projects in the Dzongu region that has been declared a protected area and

its indigenous people a primitive tribe. The youth of the tribe have come together under the banner of

Affected Citizens of Teesta (ACT) and have been on an indefinite fast or ‘satyagraha’ for the past 35 days

demanding immediate scrapping of at least six of the seven proposed projects that, they feel, would

“devastate the region from head to toe.” On the one hand, the Lepchas have been declared a primitive

tribe by the State Government, and on the other, they are assisting capitalist companies to bulldoze,

plunder and devastate in the name of development of the land that had been protected for decades,

according to Dawa Lepcha, ACT general secretary, who is also on fast. The Union Environment and

Forests Ministry had laid down a condition while clearing the Teesta stage V project stating that “no

projects in Sikkim shall be considered for environment clearance until the Carrying Capacity of the Teesta

basin is completed.” The study is yet to be completed but several projects have been granted clearance,

the ACT points out. More than half of Dzongu, especially the upper region, is inside the Kanchenjunga

National Park (KNP) and the Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve. The dam site of one of the projects is

within a kilometre of the Park while 4,005 hectares of Biosphere Reserve are being offered to the

company in the guise of catchment area, including portions of the core zone in the Park, Mr. Lepcha told

The Hindu from the dharna site in Sikkim. The Hindu 25/7/07)

Walk-out over killing of tribal in police firing (6)

BHOPAL: The Congress and other opposition MLAs, barring those belonging to the Bahujan Samaj Party,

walked out of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday at the end of a debate on admissibility of an

adjournment motion over a recent incident in which a tribal man was killed in police firing in Jhabua

district. Through the adjournment motion, moved by the Congress party’s Satyadev Katare and others, it

was alleged that Ramesh Vasunia of Jhaida village in Jhabua district was gunned down by policemen,

who were accompanied by one Kamlesh Jain and his four accomplices. Ramesh was returning to his

village from Meghnagar along with his wife on July 2. It was pointed out that Ramesh’s post-mortem was

conducted hurriedly at night and the police cremated him the same night. Further, it was stated that the

victim’s wife was forced to sign on an FIR allegedly fabricated by the police. The Hindu 25/7/07)

---

OBCs reap fruit of growth, STs lag behind: Survey (6)

New Delhi : If access to better healthcare and reaping fruits of development are the indication of

socio-economic well-being, then the other backward classes (OBCs) have fared well in the past decade,

but the system has failed to uplift tribals. Latest health statistics show that OBCs are fast catching up with

the upper castes in socio-economic indicators like children’s immunisation, mothers’ nutrition and decline

in number of children each family. While the Scheduled Tribes continue to lag behind in access to

healthcare and nutrition.National Family Health Survey conducted across the country during 2005-06

shows marked improvement in overall health indicators of the OBCs. For instance, fertility rate (number of

children each women) among OBCs has dropped from about three children each women in 1998-99 to

2.75 children in 2005, much better in comparison to the SCs and the STs where each family has around

three children. The rest of the population, which include upper castes, have brought down the family size

to two children.Nutrition among OBC women has also bettered in the past decade. In 2005-06, 32 per cent

of OBC women were below the normal body-mass index (BMI) compared to 26 per cent among general

population. Among the Scheduled Tribes, a staggering 46 per cent of women reported low BMI during

2005-06, while that for the Scheduled Castes was 39.5 per cent. Contraceptive use among both the OBCs

and the SCs reached 55 per cent while the national average is 61.8 per cent. In comparison, only 46 per

cent of them used any from of modern contraceptive as against 53.5 per cent in rest of the population.

However, half of the tribal population has access to contraceptives, while it was 39 per cent in 1998-99.

Access to better healthcare is best indicated by trained medical help at the time of delivery. Almost half of

OBC women were attended to by a doctor at the time of delivery during 2005-06 compared with 59.2 per

cent of rest of the population and 42.3 per cent of those belonging to the Scheduled Castes. Tribal women

are most disadvantaged when it comes to healthcare during the crucial time with only a third of them

availing of trained medical help during delivery. Social and economic backwardness were prime criteria for

notifying a caste as backward, besides their educational status. The health and family survey shows that

OBC are more able to access healthcare facility in comparison to SCs and STs. However, there are

variations at the State level. In States where pace of development is faster, OBC has reaped the fruits of

growth. (Pioneer 25/7/07)

---

Gujjars seek ST status (6)

NEW DELHI: Gujjar leaders from across the country demanded Scheduled Tribe status for the community

in Rajasthan, severe punishment for those responsible for the killing of nearly 30 community members

during police firing in the State earlier this year, and establishment of a Gujjar Regiment in the Indian Army

at the Akhil Bharatiya Gujjar Sammelan held here. Addressing the gathering, prominent Gujjar leader

Kirori Singh Bainsla accused the Rajasthan Government of not paying the promised compensation to

those killed in police firing and of ignoring the community at large. He charged that on the other hand

hundreds of Gujjar community members were still being victimised as they have been wrongly implicated

in numerous cases that were filed when the community was protesting. Mr Bainsla also sought the

formation of a Gujjar Regiment in the Indian Army and said the community that is known for its valour has

always remained patriotic towards the country. Member of Delhi Legislative Assembly Ramvir Singh

Bidhuri, who was the chief guest at the conclave, said the community has now decided to convene a

Gujjar rally at Ramlila Maidan here on October 31 to press for its demands. The rally would see

participation of members from all over the country. And to mobilise support for the event, Gujjar Samman

Raths would be flagged off for Delhi from Jammu and Hardwar on August 16. Gujjar leaders would travel

to the interiors of all North Indian States in these raths and hold district and village level meetings. They

would tell people how their rights are being overlooked by the Rajasthan Government, Mr. Bidhuri said.

Stating that the community now wants Scheduled Tribes status in Rajasthan, he urged senior Bharatiya

Janata Party leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Rajnath Singh to intervene in the matter. Regretting that the

promised compensation of Rs. 5 lakh for the dead and Rs. 1 lakh for the seriously injured has not been

paid by the Rajasthan Government, Mr. Bidhuri warned the State Government of serious repercussion if

the interest of the community were ignored.(The Hindu 3/8/07)

Tribals bring out handwritten newspaper (6)

Ranchi : Rural people, particularly tribals, have got handwritten newspaper as a medium to air their

grievances and take their voice to the right people. Handwritten newspapers are published in some parts

of Latehar district of Jharkhand, 120 km from Ranchi. Latehar is one of the most backward districts of the

State, where Maoists also run parallel to Government. Gyan Vigyan Samitee (GVS), a Non-Government

Organisation (NGO) of Jharkhand, took the initiative to encourage people to bring out these newspapers.

“The idea is to highlight the problems of the Panchayats and villages of the district. Through these

newspapers we try to create awareness among the people and teach them about the Government

programmes,” said Pramod Dubey, secretary of GVS of Latehar district. He said, “Villagers contribute in

content and help us in writing news. Before scripting the news we verify the facts and only then the news

are written”. The newspaper is brought out on cardboard and written with sketch pen. It is a weekly

newspaper. People in different Panchayats decide the name of the newspaper. “We have formed clusters

and one cluster constitutes five Panchayats. At present, three clusters are bringing out newspapers with

different names,” said Dubey. In one cluster it is known as Deewar Akhbar, in another two clusters it is

known as Tori Times and Samay Chakra. The first newspaper was published on June 14 of this year. It

was pasted on the walls of the village panchayat. These newspapers highlight issues like road, electricity,

Public Distribution System (PDS) in a particular village and panchayat. One newspaper also raised the

issue of admission of children in Navodaya School. The newspaper alleged that children from outside the

State were admitted in the school whereas those from villages were denied admission. GVS is planning to

bring out handwritten newspapers at block level where Block Development Officer (BDO) looks after the

development works and sanction development fund. “For block level newspapers we will select news from

cluster newspapers which needs to be highlighted at block levels,” said Dubey. So far the response is

good among the people. “We have got our voice in the form of handwritten newspapers. We raise the

basic issues that are overlooked by major newspapers. No newspaper reaches our village. Radio is the

only medium of information,” said Ganesh Baitha, a resident of Chakla Panchayat of Latehar district.

Ramatahal Manjhi of Allaudia Panchayat said, ” we are actively participating in bringing out the

newspaper. We love to work as village reporters”. GVS sometimes faces hostility from people who dislike

the concept. “We are compared with Maoist. People say that we bring out pamphlets during the day and

Maoists do the same thing during night. But we are trying to associate people and make it newspapers of

local people,” said another member of GVS. (Pioneer 6/8/07)

---

The making of India’s first potential tribal university (6)

BHUBANESWAR: Five thousand tribal children, a sprawling campus, free food, housing and education

—formal and vocational — and a hi-tech deemed University next door. This is India’s first tribal University

in the making, the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) to be precise, a vision realised in

Bhubaneswar, a dream nurtured by philanthropist Achyutananda Samanta. Plucked out of the neglected,

inaccessible and remote tribal backyard of Orissa, the boys and girls are part of a project launched with

only 100 children on April 1, 1993. A sister concern of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT),

KISS is a working dream that trained the tribal children to be self-reliant, resourceful and empowered to

tackle the challenges of life. For the visiting media team from Bangalore, KISS was an education in

looking beyond urban-centric development. From the well-stocked library, hostel and computer centre to a

medical facility that insured every child, KISS is also a home away from home. The institute ensures that

the children have enough exposure to their tribal culture, heritage and tradition. Music, meditation and

mentoring merged with sports, picnics and festivals to round off an invigorating mix of learning and fun.

For the once deprived tribal children, the road from KG to PG is meticulously laid. The KISS curriculum

takes them up from primary to higher secondary, Plus Two to Bachelor of Business Administration and

beyond, to post-graduation. If ITI diploma courses are for average students, high school pass outs can opt

for driving, TV repairing, mobile phone repair or tailoring

Varied careers. The KISS Polyvalent Vocational Training Centre ensures they could even find their place

in food preservation or canning. From poultry, sheep and goat rearing to pisciculture, dairy farm and

agriculture, livelihood projects await them too. For Dr. Samanta, the man behind it all, their happy faces

are proof of a dream realised. “After 60 years of Independence, the tribal people were still living in forests.

It was my dream to change that in a small way. Today, there are children here from most of the 52 tribes

of Orissa, including 13 primitive tribes. This year, we added 700 more tribal children to reach the strength

of 5,000,” he informed. Dr. Samanta’s faith in their abilities was fully reinforced when every KISS student

who took the State Board examination passed. Ninety per cent cleared the Plus Two examinations, a

performance far ahead of the State average of 59 per cent. “Even the dropout rate is zero. Every summer

vacation they go home, and everyone returns.”…….. (The Hindu 8/8/07)

---

“ST workers have lowest average years of schooling” (6)

NEW DELHI: Low level of education and poor access to land denies workers access to “good jobs” in the

organised sector. Those with poorest access to education and land are confined mostly to casual/manual

labour with socio-religious identity adding to their vulnerability, according to the National Commission for

Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector. The Commission in a report on “Conditions of Work and

Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector,” says among the workers in the unorganised sector,

the Scheduled Tribes have the lowest average years of schooling at 2.8 years, followed by Muslims Other

Backward Classes (OBCs) at 3.8 years, Hindu Scheduled Castes at 4.1 years and Hindu OBCs. The

upper caste Hindu workers at 8.4 years, fared the best, The ST and SC people are predominantly

represented in wage labour, the Muslims are overwhelmingly concentrated in self-employment. The report

has also found that women workers, especially those with lower social and educational status, faced

inherent disadvantages and systematic discrimination in the labour market. Women in the unorganised

sector have poor earnings and poor working conditions. About 54 per cent of the regular workers among

women are domestic workers. The other segment of disadvantaged workers dealt with in the report are

migrant, child and bonded labourers. About 8-10 per cent of the total workers are seasonal migrants, who

are poor and take recourse to migration as a strategy for survival. The limited social networks of these

migrants further increase their vulnerability in the labour market. The incidence of child labour has been on

the decline in the country. However, a large perspective of considering all out-of-the-school children brings

out the continuing nature of child deprivation. On the issue of bonded labour, the report says that since the

problem is defined by the definition of bonded labour adopted, there was no credible estimate of the

magnitude of bonded labour yet available. Yet, the Commission views the problem as huge in view of the

overwhelming empirical evidence arising from a number of studies and surveys. Agricultural workers who

are largely in the unorganised sector are an extremely impoverished and vulnerable group. Within this

group, agricultural labourers are worse off than farmers as they are characterised by extreme poverty

levels. Farmers are slightly better off than the labourers as they have some capital base in land. But

marginal and small cultivators have very little resource and also have to supplement their incomes through

wage labour. Their income levels are below their consumption level which leads to high indebtedness

among them. The problems of farmers are compounded by the slow down in the agriculture sector.

Farmer needs credit to meet both consumption needs as well as for production purposes. Increased

indebtedness is noted as a reason for a spurt in farmers’ suicides during recent times across a number of

States in the report. (The Hindu 12/8/07)

---

Khasi group wants Govt to follow SC order on tribal status (6)

Shillong, August 14 : The Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) has dubbed the

Congress-led state Government’s decision to ignore the Supreme Court judgment of stripping children

born of non-tribal fathers and tribal mothers of their Scheduled Tribe (ST) status as “hasty”. The FKJGP

said the Cabinet’s decision was unacceptable as the state Government did not get it clarified from the

Supreme Court. It felt such a decision, unless endorsed by the apex court, would amount to contempt of

court. In February, 2007, a two-judge bench comprising Justices H K Sema and A R Lakshmanan ruled

that children of a tribal mother and a non-tribal father cannot enjoy ST status (Ajan Kumar Vs Union of

India and others). However, Chief Minister DD Lapang said that after consultation between the Law

Department and the Advocate General, the state Government came to the conclusion that the Supreme

Court judgment was not applicable in Meghalaya. He said the case of matrilineal society was clearly

distinguishable from that of patriarchal society, where the children derive their identities from their father.

Lapang said the Supreme Court judgment was in respect to a person whose father was a non-tribal and

mother a tribal in Madhya Pradesh. FKJGP, however, said that the organisation fully supported the

Supreme Court ruling, saying it was a “protective shield against the menace of inter-marriage”. It pointed

out that the ruling would deter non-tribals from taking advantage of inter-marriage for business and

economic purposes. (Indian Express 15/8/07)

---

Supreme Court pulls up EC (6)

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has pulled up the Election Commission for increasing the seats of the

Scheduled Tribes in the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly from two to three in violation of the provisions

of Article 332 (3) of the Constitution (reservation of seats for SC/STs in State Assemblies). “The mandate

of the Constitution is supreme and the Election Commission has no scope to go beyond the Constitution,”

said a Bench of Justice A.K. Mathur and Justice Markandey Katju. The Bench said: “It should be made

clear that the mandate of Article 332 (3) of the Constitution should always be kept in mind. Article 332 (3)

mandates that the reservation must be made in proportion to the population of the SCs and STs of the

State. This should be the paramount consideration of the Election Commission and not any other

consideration.” In the instant case, Anand Singh Kunwar and others filed a writ petition in the Uttarakhand

High Court challenging the Commission’s notification increasing the ST seats from two to three. It was

argued that three per cent of 70 seats worked out to 2.1 and instead of fixing the ST seats to two, the

Commission increased it to three seats. The petition was transferred to the apex court at the instance of

the Union of India. In its counter, the Commission said that the order of delimitation dated November 5,

2000 was passed by the Election Commission keeping in view the special requirements of the

development of tribal areas, particularly in the areas adjoining the international border with the two

neighbouring countries and the aspirations of the local people to be part of the mainstream process. There

was a strong demand for the increase for representation of tribals from the associate members and from

the public. The Commission said that it had rectified the mistake and in the delimitation order dated

December 28, 2006, only two seats had been reserved for STs. Disposing of the petition, the Bench said:

“Though now the issue is purely academic because the Election Commission having realised its mistake

has reduced the number of seats of STs from three to two and the notification to this effect has already

been issued, in order to justify the order dated November 5, 2001, the Election Commission has made

certain observations which need not be repeated again.” It said: “Now that the 2007 elections have already

taken place, we are not disturbing the elections on this ground but in future STs’ vacancy should be

treated as two only. We hope and trust that when any notification is issued, the Election Commission shall

confine itself to the mandate of the provisions of the Constitution and will not be swayed by any other

consideration.” (The Hindu 15/8/07)

---

AHADS project uplifts tribal people (6)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Eco Restoration Project that began in Attappady in Palakkad district in

1996 has helped rejuvenate quite a large number of dried-up water sources of the region, thereby

improving the livelihood status of the tribal people domiciled there, according to a recent study of the

project’s impact done by the State Government. Enthused by the success, the Government has now

decided to continue the initiatives under the project till 2010. In the beginning, the focus of the project was

solely on eco-restoration measures such as forest and soil conservation in the barren hills of the region.

The Attappady Hill Area Development Society (AHADS), which coordinated the project, had also

encouraged the tribal people to take up simple ventures such as processing pulses and other products

gathered by them from the forests for being marketed in the nearby towns. Subsequently AHADS also

concentrated on social activities among the tribal people, trying to wean them away from alcohol and the

hold of ganja cultivators who exploited their labour. Houses are also being built for the tribal families now.

According to project director V.K. Unniyal, the benefits of various initiatives under the project have already

reached the families of 122 of the 187 tribal hamlets in the region. The Government has now decided to

extend the activities under the project to the remaining hamlets also. The Hindu 16/8/07)

---

Tribal land rights: Modi demands Central nod (6)

MEHSANA: Asking the UPA Government to allow Gujarat to allot land to tribals by Gandhi Jayanti, Chief

Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday warned that any further delay on the long-pending issue would not

be tolerated. “Gujarat is the only state which has allowed tribals to cultivate forest land and has given land

rights to them,” he said at the Independence Day function at the Police Parade Ground at Mehsana. “The

proposal of issuing land rights to 4,000 tribals has been pending with the Central Government for the last

three years. If no decision is taken in this regard by October 2, the Gujarat Government will provide land

rights to them and break the law,” Modi said, adding that he was “prepared to face the legal

consequences”. Attacking the Opposition Congress for “creating hurdles” in the economic progress of the

state, Modi expressed concern over “pseudo-secularism” which, according to him, was damaging the

social fabric of the country. “It is dangerous to promote religion-based reservation and conversion. Equal

importance should be given to all religions,” he demanded, highlighting the need to enforce a common civil

code. For the past few years, the official functions to mark the Independence and Republic Day are being

held in different district headquarters. (Indian Express 16/8/07)

---

Tribal youth gets justice at last (6)

CUTTACK: In a historic judgment, the Orissa High Court on Monday awarded a compensation of Rs. 8

lakh to a tribal boy who was illegally detained in jail for more than eight years. Pratap Naik of Boudh district

languished in jail till January 2003 though he was cleared of murder charge in October 1994. A lower court

employee, committed the goof-up, failing to place the acquittal order of the High Court before the district

court of Phulbani for eight years two months and 21 days. Terming the erring court staff a State

government employee, the court observed that the State couldn’t escape its responsibility of paying the

compensation. Senior lawyers said this was a historic ruling as never before a compensation of such a big

amount was awarded in any PIL case. The lawyers also pointed out that this was a rare case where a

lower court came in for flak in the High Court. The Bench of Chief Justice A. K. Ganguly and Justice

Indrajit Mohanty asked the Government to deposit the amount with the HC Registrar who in turn would put

it in a nationalised bank as a fixed deposit for 10 years. “During this period the victim would be allowed to

withdraw 75 per cent of the monthly interest. He would be at liberty to withdraw the whole amount after

maturity,” the Bench said. Pratap was arrested in February 1989 when he was only 14 years old. He was

convicted by the district court in December the same year and was sentenced for life. By the time he was

released after 13 years and ten months of confinement, including the illegal detention period, he became

severely ill, suffering from acute mental disorder. Pratap did not seek any relief for the illegal detention of

his own but a social activist Prabir Kumar Das of Bhubaneswar, who is also a practising advocate, moved

the High Court in September 2005 seeking a compensation of Rs. 10 lakhs for the illiterate tribal who is

now undergoing treatment for mental illness in a hospital. The High Court, which had completed the

hearing in June, pronounced its judgment in a packed courtroom saying: “Right to life and personal liberty

of any person cannot be curtailed by the State. So the victim should be awarded compensation for the loss

of eight precious years of his life for no fault of his.” “A poor man doesn’t deserve lesser compensation for

the violation of his rights by the State,” the court added. An elated Prabir Kumar Das said, “Justice for a

poor tribal boy after 18 years is not something to cheer about but it is nevertheless praiseworthy.” (The

Hindu 21/8/07)

---

Jharkhand tribals to strike on Tuesday (6)

Ranchi : Six tribal organisations have called for a strike in Jharkhand on Tuesday to protest against the

recommendations of the Delimitation Commission of India (DCI) to reduce the number of reserved seats

for tribals in State Assembly and Lok Sabha. As per the recommendations of the DCI, the total number of

reserved Assembly seats will be reduced to 21 from 28 while the number of Lok Sabha seats will come

down from six to five. “We have called a strike on Tuesday to protest against the DCI recommendations.

On September 2, we have called a meeting of tribal scholars and different tribal organisations to discuss

the issue and chalk out future strategy,” said Jagdish Lohra president of Adivasi Janadhikar Manch (AJM).

The other organisations that have supported the strike are Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch, Praha Raja

Association, Manjhi Parganaet Association, Dokol Sohor Mahasamittee, Adivasi Moolvasi Janadhikar

Manch and others. The issue is gaining momentum in the State. A strike was called in June also to protest

against the recommendations. But following the request from Chief Minister Madhu Koda, the DCI

members had cancelled their visit to the State. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), one of the ruling parties of

the State is also against the recommendations of the DCI. “We will soon call a meeting of our leaders and

decide future course of action. If needed we will stop coal and other mineral productions in the State and

support the proposed economic blockade in the State,” said a JMM leader. The tribal organisations on

September 2 discussed the issue of economic blockade in the State to build up pressure against the

Centre. “We will invoke economic blockade in the State if the Central Government fails to take suitable

steps to jeopardise the recommendation of the DCI. The Centre can reject the recommendations if it

wants,” said Chamra Linda, president of Adivasi Chatra Sangh. (Pioneer 21/8/07)

---

Tribals to sell land only after permission (6)

Bhubaneswar : Tribals have to obtain prior permission from the State Government before selling their

land. However, the Government would initiate pro-active steps to restore lands from non-tribals. Later,

these restored lands would be handed over to the tribals. In this connection, the Government would soon

launch a public awareness campaign at the tehsil level. A circular for legal aid to the tribals properties

would soon be issued by the Revenue Department. This was decided at the State level Tribal Advisory

Council Meeting, chaired by Chief Secretary Ajit Tripathy on Monday. It has also been decided that

awareness among tribals would be created about the newly launched scheme “Mo Jami, Mo Gharadiha.”

All efforts would be made to include all landless tribals in the newly launched scheme. A Task Force would

be constituted at the sub-divisional and district level to examine whether land reform programmes have

been implemented properly or not. Self Help Groups (SHG) would be set up at village level to save tribals

from clutches of money lenders. In order to boost the economy of tribals, 500 Primary Agricultural

Co-Operative Societies would be set up. Steps would be taken to examine on the proper implementation

of the Orissa Schedule Area Money Lender’s Regulation Act -1967. It has also been decided that steps

would also be taken to provide land pattas in a limited manner to those triblas living in the forest reserves

before 1980. The Government would make Rs 11 crore budgetary provision for this. The land pattas

would be distributed through the Gram Sabhas. The Government has also directed the Forest Department

to conduct an Impact study on how the livelihood of the tribals was enhanced after 69 items of minor

forest products were handed over to the panchayats. Eminent social activist Padma Shree Tulsi Munda,

who attended the meeting, urged the Government to relax the rules for the tribals so that they could sell

their lands. Development Commissioner, Revenue Secretary, Forest Secretary, RDC (Central) and RDC

(Southern) attended the meeting. (Pioneer 21/8/07)

---

Police ‘rape’ of tribal women rocks Andhra (6)

Hyderabad: An alleged incident in which the members of the anti-Maoist Police forces abducting 11 tribal

women and gang-raping them in the remote forest area of Visakhapatnam has rocked the State with

angry activists of women’s organisations coming out on the streets and holding demonstrations in

Hyderabad, Vijaywada, Visakhapatnam and other major cities. After the women, accompanied by a local

legislator, lodged a complaint with the local authorities on Monday, the officials sent the women to King

George Hospital in Visakahapatnam for clinical tests to gather medical evidence and to confirm their

complaint. State Home Minister K Jana Reddy has assured that stern action would be taken against

anybody found guilty, but Director General of Police MA Basit dismissed the allegations as an attempt to

demoralise and discourage the anti-Maoist force Greyhound from undertaking combing operations in the

tribal areas. The Member of Legislative Assembly from Paderu constituency L Raja Rao, who belongs to

the Bahujan Samaj Party, presented the women before the Paderu Sub Collector. He alleged that that the

police took women from Vakapalli village of G Madugula Mandal to a remote place in the forest, saying

they were suspected of having links with Maoists. The women told the Sub Collector that after raping

them, the policemen threatened them that if they revealed anything they would arrest them as Maoists.

The women said that in all 21 policemen were involved in this outrage. The legislator has demanded

removal of all the policemen involved in the incident and a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each victim.

Visakhapatnam rural SP Akun Sabharwal dismissed the allegations as baseless and said that this was an

attempt to tarnish the image of the police. “When I sent Stalin, the DSP of Chintapalli to the village, no

woman gave a statement to this effect,” he said. The State Director General of Police, even while denying

the allegations against the police, said that a case would be registered under the SC/ST Prevention of

Atrocities Act and a senior officer of the rank of Additional SP would investigate the case. The incident has

caused much tension in the tribal areas of Visakhapatnam where Maoists have been active despite police

pressure. The issue also came up at the State Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The Information Minister said

that the Government was serious about the matter and it was waiting for the results of the clinical tests.

“They have also sent the material for further examination at the AP Forensic Sciences Laboratory in

Hyderabad,” he said. “The Government will certainly take action against those found guilty,” he added.

Pioneer 22/8/07)

---

Jharkhand tribals’ strike evokes mixed response (6)

Ranchi: The dawn to dusk strike enforced by tribal organisations in Jharkhand on Tuesday in protest

against the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission of India (DCI) to reduce the number of

reserved seats for tribals in the State Assembly and Lok Sabha evoked a mix response. Shops were

closed, roads wore a deserted look, majority of schools and colleges remained closed and Government

offices registered thin attendance. The strike enforcers hit the street in the morning and forced

shopkeepers to close their establishments. At many places ATMs were also closed down by banks as a

precautionary measure. The supporters of the strike blocked National Highways and disrupted railway

services in many parts of the State. Six tribal organisations in the State have called the strike. The other

organisations that supported the strike were Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch, Praha Raja Association,

Manjhi Parganaet Association, Dokol Sohor Mahasamittee, Adivasi Moolvasi Janadhikar Manch and

others. The strike was also supported by the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). “Our party supported

the strike as we are against the DCI recommendation,” said Sudhir Mahto, Deputy ChiefMinister and JMM

leader. Reacting on the issue Chief Minister Madhu Koda said, “DCI has just made a recommendation

and the Central Government is yet to take a decision on the issue. We have conveyed the sentiments of

the people to the Central Government”.As per the recommendation of the DCI the total number of

reserved tribal seats in the Assembly will be reduced to 21 from the current 28 and the number of Lok

Sabha seats from six to five. The DCI recommendation issue is gaining momentum in the State. A strike

on the issue was called in June but it was cancelled as the DCI members had cancelled their visit to the

State at the request of Chief Minister Madhu Koda. Pioneer 22/8/07)

Assam shuts down over ST status for six groups (6)

Guwahati, August 22: Normal life across Assam was disrupted on Wednesday following a 12-hour bandh

called by six organisations, which claim to be representatives of six ethnic groups that are demanding

Scheduled Tribe status for themselves. The bandh was called in protest against Tribal Welfare Minister P

R Kyndiah’s statement in Parliament last week against the demand. The six ethnic groups —

Koch-Rajbangshi, Moran, Chutiya, Matak, Ahom and tea labourer— have been demanding ST status for

more than two decades now. Kyndiah, however, informed Parliament on August 14 that the Centre had no

plans to grant such a status to these communities. Life was affected in the Upper Assam districts of

Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Golaghat, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji. In Lower Assam, the bandh

disrupted life in Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Goalpara and Barpeta districts where the Koch-Rajbangshis

constitute the bulk of the population. In Guwahati, private vehicles including city buses stayed off the

roads, while private institutions, banks and financial institutions and a section of schools and colleges also

remained shut. Meanwhile, the All Assam Tribal Sangh has welcomed Kyndiah’s statement rejecting the

demand for ST status. Sangh General Secretary Aditya Khaklari said granting tribal status to more

communities would affect the interests of the “genuine” tribal communities. The Assam Tea Tribes

Students’ Association (ATTSA) has also called a bandh on August 30 on the same issue. Meanwhile,

frequent bandhs in the Northeastern states have forced the states to take some steps. The Bodoland

Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) council has imposed a ban on bandhs with BTAD Chief Executive

Member Hagrama Mohilari ordering action against those supporting bandhs. Mohilari on Tuesday asked

the administration in the four districts of Kokrajhar, Dhirang, Baska and Udalguri to take disciplinary action

against shops and establishments remaining closed during any bandh, and warned Government

employees of pay-cuts. Private establishments might even lose their trade licences, he said. The Karbi

Students’ Union (KSA), meanwhile, has called a 12-hour bandh in the Karbi Anglong autonomous district

on August 23 to register a protest against the killing of Sing Timung, the vice-president of its Diphu

regional committee, by security forces on Sunday. The Government has claimed that Timung was a

militant who was killed in an encounter at Barlangfer. Manipur has also come out with action plan against

bandhs and disruption of public order. A Cabinet decision taken last Sunday said the Government would

take strict legal action against sponsors of bandhs, blockades and general strikes in the state. (Indian

Express 23/8/07)

---

Keep promises, forest dwellers tell Centre (6)

New Delhi, Aug. 22: Adivasis and other forest dwellers have demanded that the government make good

the promises made to forest communities after they brought in the Forest Rights Act and reiterated their

demand for their rights which they said the government was trying to undermine. The National Convention

on Forest Rights, which was attended by organisations and representatives from 10 states here on

Tuesday, was addressed by a spectrum of political and progressive leaders. The convention condemned

the government’s “sabotage” of the Forest Rights Act and the repeated effort to dilute it through the rules.

Forest dwellers and activists protested against the assault on communities and their resources through

the forcible seizure of their lands and resources by corporate capital, government entities and the security

forces. The activists said that salwa judum was an “inhuman, state-sponsored” violence campaign in the

name of countering Maoist organisations, and actually intended to benefit corporate interests. Several

speakers said that the Central and state governments, through such subversion and assault, will create,

and indeed are creating, a spiral of violent conflict and repression in forest areas. The convention

highlighted the subversion of existing democratic policies and institutions, such as those embodied in the

Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (which gives the community control over its

resources), the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution and the recently passed Forest Rights Act. Delegates

from each state addressed the convention to describe the current situation in their states, including moves

to seize community lands for biodiesel plantations and SEZs, as well as brutal evictions of police firings.

Speaking on the issue, Gondwana Ganatantrak Party leader and former SC/ST commissioner Dileep

Singh Bhuria said, “Adivasis have only given to the world; we have taken nothing. The government says

keeps promising us pieces of paper that are supposed to grant our rights, but then demand other pieces

of paper from us first as evidence, which is exactly what they have always denied.” Forest dwellers are

opposed to rules of the act which stipulate that the gram sabha will only be an recommendatory body and

will not have any powers over forest resources and other decisions. On this, former SC/ST commissioner

and Bharat Jan Andolan leader B.D. Sharma said, “The government has to recognise the true democracy

is when the gram sabha decides. Until the gram sabha is given its due powers, this act will be rendered a

weapon against the people.” The convention was also addressed by the All-India Kisan Sabha’s Noorul

Huda; All-India Agricultural Workers Union general secretary Suneet Chopra; senior socialist leader

Surendra Mohan and Dr K.B. Saxena, former chief secretary of Bihar. All the speakers stressed the need

to fight the moves by the government, not only in the rules or in the act, but on the ground in the face of

brutal and illegal repression. (Asian Age 23/8/07)

---

Forest Rights Act a ‘non-starter’: Digvijay (6)

New Delhi: Tribals should get rights over forest produce not land, says former MP Chief MinisterSenior

Congress leader and AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh dropped a bombshell when he disassociated

himself from the controversial Forest Rights Act passed by the UPA Government last December. Singh

told The Pioneer: “The Act was a non-starter.” Making a statement that is bound to create ripples in party

circles, he said that he was not a supporter of the Forest Rights Act. He added that he did not believe that

tribals and forest dwellers should be doled out forest land, as is envisaged by the Act. At the heart of this

stand is the belief that the Act is inconsistent with tribal culture and that such a move will have a

devastating impact on forests. Whether the tribals will benefit is also doubtful. Singh stressed, however,

that he firmly believed that the forest dwellers and tribals had been deprived of their rights and must be

made stakeholders in the forest. This should be done, Singh said, by giving them ownership rights over

forest produce. By making them stakeholders, lay our only hope in conserving forests, he said. Giving

rights over land was not the answer, but to ensure that the traditional peoples have ownership rights over

forest produce so that their livelihoods are ensured and that they have a stake in preserving the forest.

The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

essentially transfers forestland to private ownership. The ‘beneficiaries’ include all forest dwellers, giving

title to those who were occupying forestlands for three generations as on December 5, 2005. It also allows

for development within forests and protected areas and overrules The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and

The Forest Conservation Act, 1980, two Acts which have played a pivotal role in conserving forests. The

Act was passed amid much controversy and bitter opposition. Conservationists have argued that this was

a ‘dangerous’ Act since it would throw open miles of rich, pristine forestland to private ownership, thus

destroying India’s last remaining forests. It would also spell the death knell of the tiger and other wildlife. If

the forests went, so would our river catchments areas, and our water security. The Act, it has been

argued, was an ecological disaster. Whether it would actually benefit tribals was also doubtful since it

provides for a nuclear family unit, and may thus only serve to destroy the egalitarian nature of tribal

society. The Act was, therefore, not in sync with tribal cultures. The Forest Rights Act has been seen as a

political move to garner tribal votes and in fact during UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s visit to Devgadh

Barai in Gujarat in January 2007 while addressing the tribals, she had asked them to support the

Congress on the strength of the Bill. Singh reiterated his belief that forest dwellers were stakeholders in

the forest when he later took stage at a climate change event organised by a magazine on August 22,

2007. Addressing the audience, he stressed on the urgent need to use cleaner technologies, cleaner fuels

and said that the Kyoto Protocol “does not provide for the lungs of the forests, which are our carbon sink,

as it does not still accept existing forests in accounting for carbon credits. “Do we want to wait for the next

Kyoto Protocol, or do we want to check deforestation now? Conserving eco-systems and forests was one

significant mechanism to mitigate climate change, and forests, he argued, could not be seen in isolation

with people. The 1927 Indian Forest Act took away the forest rights of the people, which needed to be

restored. “Unless we attach livelihood of the tribals and the forest dwellers to forests, we cannot conserve

forests.” The rules of the Act have been drafted and now await to be tabled in Parliament. With a senior

leader of the Congress expressing grave concerns over this controversial Act, what will be its fate?

(Pioneer 24/8/07)

---

Tribal varsity Bill introduced in Rajya Sabha (6)

NEW DELHI: The Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Bill to set up a tribal university in Madhya

Pradesh was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday by Union Human Resource Development

Minister Arjun Singh. To be set up an estimated cost of Rs. 60 crore during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan,

the university will have its headquarters in Amarkantak and will be a Central university. Though

headquartered in Amarkantak, it will have a number of regional centres and campuses in the tribal areas,

particularly in the Indian heartland. According to the ‘Statement of Objects and Reasons’ attached to the

Bill, Amarkantak was chosen because there was no Central university specifically catering to the

population in the tribal concentrated areas of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat. This is in contrast to the other area of high tribal

concentration — the North-East . While the proposed university is aimed at facilitating and promoting

avenues of higher education and research facilities for the tribal population of the country, it will take in

students from other sections of society also. Like all Central universities, it will be open to students from

across the country and every reservation law in existence will be applicable. Besides providing access to

higher education to the tribals of Central India in particular, it will promote research in tribal art, culture,

tradition, language, medicinal systems, customs, and forest-based economic activities. (The Hindu

24/8/07)

---

Gujjars pledge to continue struggle (6)

Jhalawar : A mammoth Gujjar Mahapanchayat here on Sunday pledged to continue its struggle till the

community was accorded the status of Schedule Tribe, which it said, was a legitimate demand. A huge

pandal was set up in the local Ramlila Maidan, which was almost packed even before the meet started

around noon. The mahapanchayat in this area, which is the Assembly constituency of Chief Minister

Vasundhara Raje and Lok Sabha seat of her son Dushayant Singh, assumed a political significance, as it

was organised by the expelled BJP MLA Prahlad Gunjal. It was virtually a show of strength by Gunjal, who

first, was suspended for supporting the Gujjar agitation in June and subsequently was expelled from the

party last week, for his defying the party line on this issue. Sachin Pilot, the Congress MP from Rajasthan

and Col Kirori Singh Bhainsla, president of Gujjar Sangharash Samiti were the main speakers at the

mahapanchayat, which was part of series of mahapanchayats, being organised to press for the demand.

Pilot and Bhainsla said that the demand of Gujjars for the inclusion of the community in the ST category

was just and genuine and no force could stop the community from attaining this goal. Bhainsla said the

community would decide its future course of action on September 13 in the mahapanchyat to be held at

Dhaulpur. He said that the Gujjar Sangharsh Samiti, under whose aegis the community has started its

struggle, has submitted all the relevant records pertaining to the community’s claims before the high

power committee, headed by Justice Jasraj Chopra appointed by the by the Government to look into the

demand of Gujjars. He hoped that the committee would strongly recommend the case of Gujjars for their

inclusion in the ST category and the State Government would forward these recommendations to the

Centre. The term of the committee is ending on September12. Talking to newsmen, Gunjal said the

Government and the ruling party had put every possible hurdle in organising the mahapanchayat. The

licences of 200 trucks and buses, which were to transport the people to the venue, were issued at the last

moment. The Government had made elaborate security arrangements. Though large contingents of police

were deployed here, they were kept at bay from the venue to avoid any direct confrontation with the

delegates. (Pioneer 27/8/07)

---

Tribals learn to live with disease (6)

KASHIPUR (RAYAGADA DIST): Long indifference of government and administration towards their

underdevelopment has made people of Kashipur block stoic towards pains of suffering and death. Faces

of scores of tribal and dalits who are at the medical centers at Kashipur block either as gastro patients or

attendants bear no mark of panic or pain. They are facing an epidemic yet their eyes say they have

become stubborn to such situations, which get repeated at regular intervals. Death does not seem to be a

big deal for them. Tears are a rarity in the midst of suffering for these people. Acceptance of unchanging

situation has made them immune to pains. At the Dongasil Primary Health Centre (PHC), a person who

has already lost his son in recent epidemic and has got his mother admitted, seemed to be least bothered

about his own losses. Getting the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) nearby, he asked, “Can a small

bridge be built on a mountain stream within three days which can make his village accessible to

Dongasili”.At the Tikiri PHC Abhiram Majhi an attendant of a gastro patient admitted for the last four days

was more excited about the good free meal packets and drinking water pouches they were getting from

the administration rather than the improving condition of his patient. For Govind Hial from Dikaral village,

whose sister in law has almost recovered from the gastro infection, had a complaint that doctors did not

give any injection to his patient. For these ignorant tribal injections are the best remedies for any ailment.

He hinted that due to nonavailabilty of doctors, quacks make rounds of their inaccessible villages

administering injections for any ailment for a good price. Most of them had a major worry, how to get back

to their road less villages after patients get cured as the patients and their attendants had been

transported by vehicles of administration to the medical centres. The scantily-clad, ill-fed children

scampering around pigs and sanitation less tiny inaccessible hamlets are proof that despite the much

claimed KBK project and publicized activities of NGOs in this area little has changed in this area in last two

decades. The irony is that although official records show Kashipur is the experimenting ground for NGOs

no NGO activity could be seen during the recent gastro epidemic although the administrative officials are

working round-the-clock for the past 10 days to check it……. (The Hindu 28/8/07)

---

27 tribal groups dwindle in numbers (6)

BHUBANESWAR: It may sound strange, but it’s true. When population growth remains a major concern in

the country, population of as many as 27 tribal communities in Orissa has shown negative growth rate.

Population of 13 major tribes has gone down below 3,100. The stunning aspect of tribal population came

to the light when Directorate of Census Operation (DCO) and SCs and STs Research Training Institute

(SSRTI) released community-wise status based on the 2001 census of these two backward classes here

on Wednesday. Some of the prominent tribal communities whose population growth rate decreased

included Desia Bhumij, Mankidi, Chenchu, Ghara, Baiga and Tharua, said ‘Status of Scheduled Caste and

Scheduled Tribes in Orissa (Community Wise): Census 2001’ here. According to the report, population

growth rate of Desia Bhumij had gone down by 90.58 per cent while Mankidi tribes suffered 88.70 per cent

decline compared to the 1991 census. Similarly, the 13 tribes whose population was less than 3100

included Chenchu (28), Mankidi (130), Desia Bhumij (177), Ghara (275), Thaurua (453), Baiga (539),

Birhor (702) and Mankirdia (2803). Orissa has a sizable tribal population with 22.13 per cent of its total

population. The State houses 62 types of tribes, of which 13 are primitive. The State has one of the richest

diverse tribal populations in the country. The status report, however, said population of 10 tribal

communities had shown positive growth rate in 2001 compared to the previous census. Some of the

communities have been identified as Kol (137.20 per cent), Parenga (116.43 per cent), Madia (109.66 per

cent) and Kondadora (77.59 per cent). However, good news is that the tribal population has maintained a

good sex ratio. Compared 972 of overall sex ratio of the State, the tribal population is having a healthy sex

ratio of as high as 1003. When it comes to the rural area, the sex ratio goes up to 1006, but urban tribal

population seems to be toeing the general trend with the sex ratio going down below 1,000. The analysis

by SSRTI said the State’s tribal population is having more widows than widowers. (The Hindu 30/8/07)

---

Encroachment on forest land to be verified (6)

MUMBAI: The Adivasis’ struggle for land rights has received a boost after Maharashtra Forest Minister

Babanrao Pachpute ordered that the survey of “encroached” forest land be completed in Sakhri taluk of

Dhule district. People there have been protesting against diversion of forest land for wind energy projects.

Kishore Dhamale of the Satyashodhak Grameen Kashtakari Sabha, who has been spearheading the

forest communities’ struggle for land, told The Hindu that the Minister also stayed construction of wind

towers on forest land. Ever s ince two large tracts of forest land were leased to Suzlon Energy Limited

some time ago, the Adivasis have been protesting that their rights are ignored. In January, 127.94

hectares in the villages of Vitave, Vatve, Pangan, Panchmauli and Raikot was leased by the Forest

Department. Another 212 hectares has also been leased to the company for wind energy projects. The

new Scheduled Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act passed in

December 2006 gives rights to those who had been cultivating forest land till December, 2005. The rules

of the Act are yet to come into force but governments in the country have already issued notifications

changing the date of regularisation of “encroachments.” In Maharashtra, the Revenue and Forest

departments issued a government resolution (GR) on April 23, 2007 saying the cut-off date was October

25, 1980. Various organisations protested this GR and last week the government agreed to withdraw it. In

June, Suzlon, in a letter to the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Dhule, said that in the event that some of

the land falling within the leased tract is legally allotted to the Adivasis for cultivation, both wind mills on the

leased land and the Adivasis could “coexist.” The Activists have taken exception to such proposals, saying

they must first be given rights to the forest land. The Dhule Forest Department has acknowledged that the

land leased to the company does have “encroachment” in places. Earlier in May, the district

administration, after an agitation, did agree to set up local committees to verify the rights of the Adivasis

on the leased land. A process was set in motion on May 12 and in 1,600 cases enquiries were conducted,

Mr. Dhamale said. However this exercise was stopped on May 22. Now the Minister has said the

remaining cases of “encroachment” must be verified by September 11. There should be 300-450 cases in

which enquiry remained to be held, Mr. Dhamale said. While the new Act was passed to redress a

historical injustice, the Maharashtra government, despite having so many laws and notifications to give the

Adivasis their rights over forest land, has chosen to favour companies, says Anand Teltumbde, writer and

activist, who was part of a fact-finding team which recently visited Dhule to examine repression of the

protestors. The team, on behalf of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR), also

investigated lathi charge at Pangan and Mograpada, 70 km from Dhule, where the police beat up villagers

and arrested 18 persons. It was at Mograpada that a huge pit was dug up for a wind tower, drawing

resistance by the villagers. There have been repeated agitations for granting land rights to the Adivasis

first before land is leased to companies. As a result, notices have been issued to Mr. Dhamale and two

others seeking their externment from the district. The CPDR report also said large scale deforestation was

taking place in the area. (The Hindu 2/9/07)

---

People continue to suffer in tribal areas (6)

Bhubaneswar : A whopping Rs 250 crore has been spent over a period of 20 years in the

tribals-dominated block of Kashipur in Rayagada district. But nothing has been changed. People continue

to become victims of the wrath of the nature. The outbreak of cholera has not happened this year only

which already claimed 178 lives in the tribal-dominated area of KBK so far. As many as 52 people alone

from Kashipur block became victims of this killer disease. Earlier, it had taken away the lives of hundreds.

The first cholera outbreak reportedly occurred in the recent history way back in 1987 in the Kashipur

block. More than 200 people died of cholera at that time. They all died just because they were unable to

get the proper food stuff and safe drinking water. All were the victims of adulterated foods and polluted

water. The tragic incident at that time compelled the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to made a whirlwind

tour to Kashipur. His tour opened the floodgate of financial assistance for the development of Kashipur

and other backward regions of the KBK areas. Later, the Centre gave an assistance of Rs 10 crore for the

development of Kashipur. Under the International Far-mer’s Development Fund, Rs 106 crore was

released for the overall development of Kashi-pur. A new scheme Orissa Tribal Development Project was

initiated for this purpose. Official sources said, in 1995, Rs 12 crore was provided under the special

assistance scheme of the UNICEF. In 1998 watershed mission programme was initiated with the

assistance from Germany in 1998. A programme was initiated under the banner TDH with an assistance

of Rs 15 crore. Under the much-hyped KBK and Biju KBK scheme, Rs 40 crore has already been spent

over the years. But noting has been changed. People have not yet get the minimum needs to fulfil their

requirements. In the last five years, many programmes under Pradhan Mantri Grama Sadak Yojana,

National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), many works have been taken up. But it has

not been able to change the lives of the people of Kashipur. Kashipur boasts of 1.35 lakh population. Out

of it, 62.50 per cent belongs to tribal and 19.94 per cent belongs to SC categories. The Kashipur block

comprises 20 panchayats and 498 villages. Out of the 1014 tubewells in the blocks 550 tubewells have

been lying defunct over the last several years. This has compelled the tribals to fetch water from the

nearby rivulets. The block has only one community health centre and five primary health centres. The

sanctioned strength of doctors for these hospitals is 12. But only two doctors are working in the areas on a

permanent basis. Official sources said, the block officials have not been able to reach 70 per cent of the

remotest part of this block. Sources further said that most of the rice under several scheme never reaches

to the beneficiaries but later it reaches to the rice-miller for the recycling purposes. Planning and

Co-ordination Minister Padmanava Behera said, “Certain development has been made in the KBK areas.

But more things have to be done particularly in the field of creating public awareness.” He further informed

that Rs 1300 crore has already been spent for the overall development of KBK areas. Official sources

claimed as most of the NGOs working in these areas stress on the welfare of their organisations, people

continue to suffer. Similarly is the case of the Government officials working in KBK areas. Vigilance

officials maintained that the officials working in KBK areas , try to siphoned off the money as much as they

can from different Government programmes implementing in the area. (Pioneer 4/9/07)

---

Tribals attack forest officials (6)

AHMEDABAD: At least 20 policemen and forest officials were said to be injured when about 1,500 tribal

people attacked a security party with bows and arrows near Umarpada in Surat district in south Gujarat on

Thursday. The forest staff along with the police went to Haripura and Kajipura to evacuate the tribals

cultivating forest land.The police claimed that the tribal people of the two villages had already been

allocated alternative land near Ukai in lieu of forest land, but they refused to shift. They insisted that they

would cultivate the forest land they claimed to be holding for generations.Trouble had been brewing for the

last few days and on Thursday when the forest department employees went to Umarpada the officials

were attacked. (The Hindu 7/9/07)

---

DD Kashir accused of ignoring tribal languages (6)

SRINAGAR: Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir have accused Doordarshan’s Kashir Channel of ignoring the

State’s tribal languages, especially Gojri, in its programmes and described it as a “cultural aggression”

against the community. “The Doordarshan channel for Jammu and Kashmir, DD Kashir, launched by the

Government of India with the objective of countering Pakistani media propaganda from across the border,

has failed to serve its purpose in the tribal language Gojri spoken by nomad Gujjars of the State,” said

Javaid Rahi, national secretary of the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, an organisation working

for the overall development of the tribes of India. “I call it cultural aggression against the Gujjars of Jammu

and Kashmir as the channel does not telecast even a five-minute programme in Gojri, the language of

about 25 per cent of the State’s population, in its 24X7 telecasts and does not cover remote villages and

tribal population of the State in their own mother-tongue which is most affected by militancy. It, therefore,

fails to counter the massive anti-India propaganda launched by Pakistan Television through its powerful

transmitters in Gojri along the border,” said Dr. Rahi. This is the only regional TV channel for which the

Centre has allocated more than Rs. 299.87 crore for this year, he said, adding, “we are demanding a

10-minute Gojri news bulletin from Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar and Jammu.” Dr. Rahi said the local

television networks of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, especially Muzaffarabad Television, have lately

stepped up their propaganda programmes, especially news and current affairs programmes, in Gojri

language to influence the Gujjars. “This needs to be countered at the earliest so that they may not exploit

and misguide the Gujjar tribal population of the State in the name of region or religion,” Dr. Rahi said. He

said three memorandums signed by Gojri writers were submitted to President Pratibha Patil, Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister P.R. Dasmunsi and a strong

protest was lodged against the Channel, but in vain. (The Hindu 7/9/07)

Tribals to rally for their rights (6)

SURAT/BHARUCH: To raise the issue of farm land for tribals of Umarpada, Lok Sangharsh Morcha

(LSM) will organise a rally in Rajpipla on September 17. Ambrish Rai, national president of LSM,

announced the future movement for tribal rights here on Saturday. Along with the issue of land in

Umarpada taluka, other tribal-related issues will also be raised at the rally. Simultaneously, Pratibha

Shinde of LSM addressed media in Bharuch on Saturday to announce the rally on September 17. “We will

protest with the help of thousands of tribals to show government that the action against tribals was

unjustified,” she said. On Saturday evening when LSM leaders were addressing the issue of injustice to

tribal oustees of Umarpada taluka, police attack on few tribals on Khotrampura crossroads were reported.

Amarnath Gupta of LSM said, “Police were beating up few tribals sitting near Khotrampura crossroads

without any reason. Police personnel are from nearby police stations and hence the tribals have no option

to even lodge a complaint.” Surat district superintendent of police BK Jha denied any such action by local

police in Khotrampura village. “This issue was not between police and tribals. Tribal have problems with

forest department so why would police attack tribals in such a delicate situation. Complaint has been

lodged against 57 people and actions will be taken against them but we are cautious enough that any

action by us should not create tension in the area,” said Jha. The situation is likely to remain tense in the

area as Van Bandhu Rath is set to take off from Khotrampura on Sunday. (Times of India 9/9/07)

---

Shah gets Forest for smooth implementation of Tribal Act (6)

Bhopal : Forest officers in the State see a definite reason behind Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s

decision to place both the Forest and Tribal Welfare departments under the charge of Minister Kunwar

Vijay Shah. The controversial Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights)

Act would soon be implemented throughout the country and forest officers feel that if the State

Government ensures smooth implementation of the Act, it could derive substantial political mileage in the

next Assembly elections. The Act, known better as the Tribal Act is being opposed tooth and nail by forest

officers throughout the country. At the Government of India level, the Act was a cause of friction between

the MoEF and the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which piloted it. However, by placing the charge of both the

Forest and Tribal Welfare ministries in the State with the same Minister, the Government aims to attempt

a smooth implementation of the Act. The Act with its seemingly populist agenda could be a vote grabber

and the Government would not like to miss the opportunity. Although the Act has been framed by the

Union Government, smooth implementation would earn the State Government brownie points with the

beneficiaries. Conversely, hitches in the implementation of the Act could adversely affect the chances of

the ruling party in the State Government at the hustings. The Congress would not let go of an opportunity

to blame the State Government for tardy implementation. Forest and Tribal Welfare Minister Kunwar Vijay

Shah at a recently held meeting with forest officers made it very clear that he aims at synergising

operations between the two departments under his charge. The message at the meeting was clear; the

cash rich Tribal Welfare ministry and the comparatively well-staffed forest department could work

together. Thanks to the politico-administrative move, Forest officers who had been opposing what the Act

stood for may soon become its unwilling implementers. (Pioneer 10/9/07)

---

‘Review Salwa Judum’s activities’ (6)

HYDERABAD: Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said here on Sunday that the

activities of Salwa Judum, which is fighting the CPI (Maoist) in Chhattisgarh, should be reviewed in the

wake of migration of tribals to Andhra Pradesh. “Tribals in Chhattisgarh are caught between the Salwa

Judum and Maoists and are paying the price,” he said at a press conference. “The Salwa Judum was

formed as an outfit aimed at people’s participation. But their activities are something different for the past

few months,” Mr. Ramesh said, adding that because of them, the Guthi Koya tribals were fleeing their

hamlets and taking shelter in Warangal and Khammam districts of Andhra Pradesh. “People are running

away from the Salwa Judum,” he said. The former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Ajit Jogi, was also against

the role of Salwa Judum, started by Congress leader Mahendra Karma to fight Maoists. On the landmine

attack on the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Janardhana Reddy, Mr. Ramesh said he still felt

the activities of Maoists had come down drastically in Andhra Pradesh. “But, the situation has deteriorated

in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and parts of Orissa.” (The Hindu 10/9/07)

---

Nomadic tribes ignored by Sachar panel: Tribal body (6)

SRINAGAR, SEPTEMBER 9 : In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, the Tribal Research and

Cultural Foundation, an organisation working for the tribal and nomadic communities of India, has sought

amendments in the Sachar Committee report. The foundation, in its letter, has stated that the problems

faced by the nomadic tribes be included in the report. “The Committee, constituted by the Prime Minister

to assess the social, educational and economical status of Muslims in India, has not addressed the

concerns of nomadic Muslim tribes,” spokesman of the foundation said. “The report mainly focuses on the

issues of settled Muslims and ignores the Muslim nomadic tribes, the Gurjjars of Jammu and Kashmir and

Himachal Pradesh, who fall under Scheduled Tribes,” the letter states. National Secretary of the

foundation Javaid Rahi said it is surprising that the 404-page report does not incorporate even the word

“nomadic Muslims” or “Muslim tribes” in it. “The report has not addressed the concerns of tribal

community. Issues like right to vote, recognition of traditional judiciary system popular among Muslim

tribes, political empowerment of Muslim STs, safeguarding their socio-economic rights and issue related

to their ethnic, cultural and lingual identity have not been addressed,” Rahi said. (Indian Express 10/9/07)

---

Karat writes to PM on delay in Forest Bill notification (6)

New Delhi, September 12 : CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat on Wednesday sought the “urgent”

intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in notifying the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional

Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill 2006. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Karat said that

the “delay is inexplicable” and requested Mammohan Singh to “urgently intervene on the issue to ensure

that an important achievement of the UPA Government is not weakened or even subverted by the

non-notification of the Act.” The Bill was passed in both the Houses of Parliament in December 2006. “The

Committee for Drafting Rules was formed in March 2007 and submitted the Draft Rules in May 2007,”

Karat said. “The rules were posted on the website for public comments on June 19, 2007 and the last date

decided by the Ministry was July 31, 2007. It was expected that the rules would be finalised and the Act

notified,” he said. Karat held the delay in notification responsible for the grim situation of tribal community

in many areas. “Forest officials, who have been responsible for denial of tribal rights, have taken

advantage of the situation and evicted the tribals from many areas. Land cultivated by tribals for decades

is being dug up for plantations by the Forest Department in some states in an obvious attempt to preempt

the recognition of the tribal rights on that land. At the same time, there are reports of connivance between

land mafia and officials to take illegal possession of land. This is a most untenable situation,” he said.

(Indian Express 13/9/07)

---

Quota for Rajasthan tribals in Govt. jobs (6)

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Cabinet has decided to provide 45 per cent reservation in subordinate

Government services to the Scheduled Tribes people living in the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) area, comprising

six districts in the State, and 5 per cent to those from the Scheduled Castes residing in the same area.

The decision will benefit the tribals living in Dungarpur, Banswara, Sirohi, Udaipur, Pratapgarh and

Chittaurgarh districts in the direct recruitment to Government services. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje,

who also holds the Finance portfolio, had said in her Budget speech that the reservation for tribals in direct

recruitment would be extended to all subordinate services except the State services. The State Cabinet

has taken the decision in accordance with the announcement. An official release stated here on Thursday

the State Cabinet also approved 25 per cent reservation to the Saharia tribals belonging to Kishanganj

and Shahbad teshils of Baran district. (The Hindu 14/9/07)

---

Tribals reiterate demand for restoration of land to them (6)

Keonjhar : Tribals reiterated their demands for jal, jami, jungle at a congregation recently organised at

Bhagamunda Haat by the local unit of Chhasi Mulia Sanghars Samiti. The Jan Adhikar Sabha was

attended by around 1,500 people, mostly tribals, from nearby villages in which leaders of Visthapan

Virodhi Manch of Kalinga Nagar demanded for restoration of tribal lands acquired for setting up factories

of Tata, Facor, Jindal and other establishments in Jajpur and Keonjhar districts. State convenor of JAS

Chakradhar Haiburu, Rabindra Nath Jarika and other VVM leaders of Kalinga Nagar brought around 200

tribal people to the meeting from Jajpur. Bhimsen Munda, Dalit Adivasi Ekta Manch, Keonjhar, Jitrai

Marandi, Sushil Saian, Bhimsen Chhatar, Ramchandra Tudu and local ZP member Mangal Murmu called

on Adivasis to be united for their birth right as bestowed upon by nature. Noteworthy is Chakradhar Alda

was granted bail in last month by local court of Keonjhar Garh due to failure on the part of prosecuting

agency. Rabindra Nath Jarika,VVM leader, Sukinda did not attended in the meeting in spite of earlier

announcements as per information received. Leaf lets were distributed prior to the meeting.

Harichandanpur police was totally ignorant about the meeting. Observers say this is second tribal

congregation in the district within a span of three months and first one attended by VVM leaders in the

district. (Pioneer 17/9/07)

---

Communal trouble brewing up in Kandhmal dist. (6)

BERHAMPUR: A volatile tension is brewing between Kui tribals and Pana harijans in Kandhmal district.

The recent tension is because of the demand by a section of Pana harijans to be identified as Kui tribals in

official records as they speak Kui language and obey some tribal rituals. The Kandhmal district Kui Samaj

Coordination Committee has vehemently opposed this attempt by Pana harijans. Secretary of this

organisation, Lambodar Kanhar, says if the Government accepted Pana harijans as tribals then it would

lead to violent clashes between the two communities in Kandhamal district like what had happened in

1994. The recent tension has started due to activities of an NGO named Phulbani Kui Jankalyan Sangh

formed in Bhubaneswar. The Kui tribals of Kandhamal district allege that members of the NGO are from

Pana community. The NGO filed a case in the Orissa High Court demanding they be considered as Kui

tribals in official records as they have similar culture and tradition like Kui tribals. The Orissa High Court in

July this year directed the administration to investigate into the matter. But as per the Kui leaders of

Kandhmal district, the Pana harijans have started claiming themselves as Kui tribals at villages in

Kandhamal district, which is leading to tense situation in villages. A delegation of Kui tribals of Kandhamal

district held discussions with Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), southern range, Satyabrata Sahu

over the issue on Wednesday. According to leaders of Kui organisations of Kandhamal district like

Janmejaya Mallik, Dullabha Pradhan, Subhas Kanhar the Kui tribals who are called Kandh in Oriya are the

original inhabitants of Kandhamal district. As per tribal legend, Pana community migrated to Kandhamal

region from Ghumusar area when King of Ghumusar estate punished them for their criminal activity during

British era. The Kui leaders alleged that State Minister Padmanabh Behera was behind the recent attempt

by Pana community for political gains. Meanwhile, Mr. Behera has also come out with a declaration on

September 1 claiming that he has no relationship with the NGO, Phulbani Kui Jankalyan Sangh of

Bhubaneswar, which is at crux of the issue. (The Hindu 22/9/07)

---

Bid to dilute Forest Act: NGO (6)

NEW DELHI: The Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a network of voluntary organisations working for

forest dwellers, on Monday said the government was drafting rules that would render impossible

implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forests

Rights) Act, 2006. Addressing a press conference here to announce a ‘court arrest’ programme on

October 2 to demand notification of the Rules and the Act, activists from across the country said

thousands of families had been evicted from forest areas in the name of the Act even though the rules

were yet to be notified. Eviction in Rajasthan was being done in the name of seizing forest land for

biodiesel plantation; the Chhattisgarh government was using the ‘State-sponsored militia’ to “cleanse” the

forest of people, and the armed police in Orissa continued their stand-off with villagers fighting eviction by

Posco. The situation was worse in Jharkhand, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, where evictions had started

but no compensation was being given, the activists said. (The Hindu 25/9/07)

---

Legal literacy drive for Rajasthan tribal areas launched (6)

JAIPUR: A comprehensive legal literacy drive for tribal areas was launched at the historic Haldighati in

Rajsamand district of Rajasthan over the weekend with a call to protect the rights of the tribal population

and bring them to the mainstream of social, economic and educational development. Union Law Minister

H.R. Bharadwaj, inaugurating the campaign, called upon the tribals to resolve small disputes through lok

adalats or out-of-court settlement. “The tribal people have a great tradition of forbearance. They should

not waste their time and money in fighting prolonged legal battles,” he said. The Rajasthan State Legal

Services Authority, which has sponsored the special campaign for tribals, has also provided a mobile van

for spreading awareness about legal rights in the remote tribal-dominated regions in southern Rajasthan.

Mr. Bharadwaj inaugurated a Legal Advice Centre at the Haldighati Museum on the occasion. Supreme

Court Judges, Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice A.K. Mathur, said the knowledge of Constitutional rights

was essential for tribals as this would empower them to make intervention on behalf of local communities

to demand justice. Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice J. M. Panchal said the legal services would ensure

speedy justice to poor sections of society. State Legal Service Authority’s Member-Secretary H. R. Kuri

said nearly 25-lakh cases had been disposed of by holding 42,000 legal service camps across the State.

(The Hindu 25/9/07)

---

NCERT move to check low literacy levels among girls (6)

NEW DELHI: Keen to tackle the high school dropout rate and low literacy levels among girls from the

Scheduled Tribes, the National Council of Educational Research and Training is organising a training

programme for teachers to focus on empowerment of these girl children. The programme for “Teacher

Educators from Rural Areas on Action Research Related to Gender Issues with Focus on Upliftment of ST

Girls” is being organised by the Department of Women’s Studies at NCERT to sensitise educationists on

issues concerning education and status of girls from the ST categories. Thirty-two teacher educators of

the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) from the States of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,

Orissa and Jharkhand are currently undergoing training in the Capital since September 5 that will continue

till October 1. “For the past three years we have been organising training programmes focussing on girls

from Scheduled Caste categories. This is the first time that the emphasis is on ST girls. The ST girls face

problems like cultural alienation and language barrier. In a milieu like this, teachers have to serve as

change agents,” said Mona Yadav, senior lecturer at the Department who is also the programme

coordinator. These teacher educators who are involved in further training other teachers, preparation of

study material and planning out education policy in the district will also promote awareness on the

schemes, programmes and incentives launched by the Government for the benefit of ST girls. The

teacher educators will also be trained on how to carry out research, analyse and interpret data. Apart from

the internal faculty at NCERT, officials from the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and resource persons from

various national bodies have been roped in for the workshop.As a follow up measure, after the execution

of their action plan in their respective work places in different districts, the participants will present their

research findings at a five-day workshop in March next year. (The Hindu 25/9/07)

---

Oct. 2 protest to fight for forest rights (6)

New Delhi, Sept. 25: The Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a federation of tribal and forest dwellers’

organisations, said that the government is holding up the Forest Rights Act while engaging in manipulation

meant to sabotage the entire process, harming forests, wildlife and forest communities. To protest this

across India, tens of thousands will court arrest on October 2 in response to this violation of their historic

and fundamental rights. This sabotage will not be allowed to pass unanswered, said forest dwellers.

Speaking to the media, Shanker Gopalkrishnan from Campaign for Survival and Dignity said, so far most

of this information has not been made public by the government but documents seen by the campaign

indicate that the government is pushing for “critical wildlife habitats”, a special provision under this Act, to

be declared with such haste that any proper scientific investigation and decision-making will be

impossible. He said, “A relocation package consisting essentially of cash compensation will then be

‘provided’ to those being resettled from these habitats, allowing for large-scale corruption and leaving

people stranded with no livelihood. Vested interests are pushing for this to be done before the Forest

Rights Act is brought into force.” This is exactly what environmentalists have condemned time and again

as a failed model of conservation, yet more than Rs 1,000 crores have been allocated for this process for

2008. We suspect that accessing these enormous funds is a key motivation for these moves. Meanwhile,

the rules to the Act are being undermined to make it easier for vested interests to misuse the Act, while

genuine forest dwelling communities are denied their rights through various mechanisms, said Campaign

for Survival and Dignity. (Asian Age 26/9/07)

---

Govt rejects Panas’ claim as ST in Kandhamal (6)

Bhubaneswar : The tribals of backward Kandhamal district have accused Collector Gangadhar Singh of

discrimination against them. A leading tribal organisation has dubbed him as a ’stooge’ of the Minister

from the district. But keeping in mind the tribal votes, Singh was shifted from the district on Monday. The

ST & SC Development Department has issued a clarification over the contentious issue, which has

threatened a repetition of the 1994 agitation. Tribals are up in arms against the claim of the Kui

language-speaking Panas to recognise them as tribals. Panas belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and

they are now demanding inclusion of Kui-speakers as the Scheduled Tribe (ST). Commissioner -cum-

Secretary, ST & SC Development Department Dr Taradatt has outright rejected the idea, saying, “It will

not be permissible to include or specify all the Kui language speakers as ST.” The issue cropped up

following a writ petition filed by the Phulbani Kui Janakalyan Sangh (PKJS) in the Orissa High Court

pleading for correction of the Records of Right (RORs) to show them as Kui (ST) in place of Pana (SC) as

they are speaking the Kui language. The High Court, while disposing of the petition, has asked the State

Government to look into the matter and make necessary correction of the RORs in accordance with the

Presidential Order 2002. The Presidential Order 2002 reads as follows: “In Entry 31, at the end, insert

Kondh, Kui, Buda Kondh, Bura Kondh, Desia Kondh, Dungria Kondh, Kutia Kondh, Kondh Gauda, Muli

Kondh, Maula Kondh, Pengo Kondh, Raja Kondh and Raj Kondh.” Before the amendment under

reference, the Presidential Order 2002 specified “Kondh, Kond, Kandha, Manguli Kandha, Sitha Kandha”

as ST for the State of Orissa. It is quite clear from the communities mentioned in the Entry 31 that there is

no scope to read Pana as ST. Dr Taradatt’s clarification states, “It is a well-known fact that Kondh, Kond

and Kandha tribes in Orissa speak Kui language. There are other communities and castes including Pana

/Pano who live in their neighbourhood and speak the same language.” In view of the High Court’s order,

the claim of an individual to be noted in the ROR as a Kui tribe may be considered for correction of ROR

only if such claims are supported by authentic documents, field verification reports and proof to the

satisfaction of competent authority that their caste has been wrongly indicated in ROR as Pano, though in

fact their caste is Kondh/Kond/Kandha/ Kui, reads the Govt order. Now it is quite apparent that the State

Govt is in no mood to oblige the Kui-speaking Panas to allow them as ST in RORs. (Pioneer 26/9/07)

---

Tribals vs wildlife: Govt to mark ‘inviolate areas’ in tiger reserves (6)

NEW DELHI, September 26: There is a reason why the implementation of the controversial Tribal Act has

been held up. Before the government comes up with final rules to enforce the law, it wants to complete

another mammoth exercise — preparing guidelines for declaring large tracts of forest land as “critical

wildlife habitats”. This will restrict the area where the Tribal Act is applicable. The Act recognises the rights

of tribals over forest land they have been occupying for generations. The Bill was passed by the

Parliament in December 2006 after sharp differences between tribal activists and wildlife enthusiasts who

believed that the Act would sound the death knell for several wildlife species on the brink. To protect

tigers, the government is planning to declare an “inviolate area” of at least 800-1200 square kilometers in

every tiger reserve. Each of these reserves may have 1000 sq km of buffer. An estimated Rs 10 lakh will

be paid to each tribal family in this area for relocation. “This exercise is under the provision of the Act,”

said Rajesh Gopal, director, Project Tiger. According to officials at the Ministry of Environment and

Forests, this is on the basis of the Tiger Estimation exercise undertaken by the Wildlife Institute of India. It

is the “bare minimum area” for any forest to support even 60-70 tigers. Tribal activists disagree. “This is

not scientific and is being done in haste. These boundaries are to be mapped in all the tiger reserves in 30

days. How can a site-specific process, meant to be based on real ecological situation be completed within

30 days?” said Shankar Gopalakrishnan of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity. Tribal activists plan a

jail bharo andolan from October 2. (Indian Express 27/9/07)

---

Tribal girl raped in Patna (6)

PATNA: Pushpa (name changed), a tribal girl, was raped by unidentified youths at Patna Junction on

Friday. Police said the 15-year-old tribal girl, along with her friend Priti (name changed) from Jharkhand,

fled from the hostel of Prayas Bharti late on Thursday night to catch a train to her home state. She was

staying at the hostel for about two months and was desperate to meet her parents. The girl arrived at

Patna Junction to catch a train to her native place. But, she was taken for a ride by some unidentified

youths who promised to help her in the journey back to home. This, however, never happened and the girl

was raped. Later, Pushpa narrated her tale of woes to a correspondent of an electronic channel. After this,

police swung into action and a case of rape against unidentified person was lodged with the Kotwali police

station late on Friday evening.(Times of India 29/9/07)

---

Up to 6 husbands, superstitions: For ST status, Gurjjars list their primitive traits (6)

New Delhi September 29: Did you know that Gurjjars get their children’s nappies engaged or that they

sometimes marry children in the womb? Or that they worship the neem tree, don’t sell milk on special

days dedicated to their deity Devnarayan and live up to the phrase “Dantli main myan nahin, gurjjar main

gyan nahin” (A sickle has no cover and a Gurjjar has no knowledge). These quaint rituals and common

phrases have become part of crucial documentation by the community to prove their tribal status. The

otherwise reticent Gurjjar is now talking endlessly. Across Rajasthan, they are discussing their degree of

backwardness, chiding each other for “behaving like a Gurjjar” and telling the world about their “absurd”

habits. For the last three months, Gurjjars have presented affidavits and made representation to the

three-member committee headed by retired Justice Jasraj Chopra. In all of them, they have explained at

length how backward they are. The committee was set up after the May-June violence in the state. The

state government has asked the committee to examine the norms laid down for Gujjars in their current

status in the OBC category and consider their representation for inclusion in the ST list. “Earlier the craze

was to move forward,” says Justice Chopra. “Now it is the opposite. Everybody wants to become

backward and prove that they are primitive.” Affidavits filed before the committee have sections dedicated

to social backwardness in which local phrases are highlighted to prove they are traditionally dullards. The

community is underlining polyandry, illogical belief in superstition and the custom of child marriage.

Women representatives have told the committee that their future is controlled by the Panchayat and that

they have half-a-dozen husbands. “We have no choice. To get what we want we have to highlight the

negative aspects of our community,” says Ram Swaroop, a school teacher in Sikar. In one representation,

a Gurjjar told the committee how 30 years ago his ancestor jumped into a well when a tehsildar came to

ask him for some documents. “It shows how scared and isolated we are from the rest of the world,”

argues Swaroop. So far, 14,000 representations and 32,000 affidavits have been filed before the

committee. Justice Chopra, sociologist Yogesh Atal (a member) and special secretary T Srinivasan have

between them surveyed 107 villages so far, mainly in Alwar and Ajmer. Their target is 300 villages across

the state. While the Gurjjars have given researched articles and documented writings to prove their tribal

origins, the Meenas have vociferously argued against the Gurjjars. The committee, which was to finish its

work in three months, has now been given an extension. “We are simultaneously taking the assistance of

experts to analyse the documents we are being given. Also, all data is being computerised and we should

be able to wind up by December 15,” says Chopra. …….. (Indian Express 30/9/07)

---

GUJJAR AGITATION

Pressure on Gujjars to postpone Dhaulpur meet (6)

Jaipur : Efforts are on to persuade leaders of the Gujjar Sangharsh Samiti to postpone its proposed

Mahapanchayat on September 13 at Dhaulpur, which is expected to decide its future course of action with

regard to its demand for inclusion of the community in the ST category. The Home Minister Gulab Chand

Katraia on Thursday night held a meeting with the leaders of the Samiti and apprised them of the progress

made by the three-member committee, headed by Justice Jasraj Chopra, appointed by the Government in

June last to look into the case of Gujjar community.Leaders of the Samiti said that if Chopra committee

failed to submit its report within three months, the agitation of Gujjars would be revived. This was the main

agenda of the Mahapanchayat. (Pioneer 8/9/07)

---

HC order on Gujjars a relief to Raje Govt (6)

Jaipur : An interim order of the Rajasthan High Court, directing the State Government not to recommend

the inclusion of Gujjars in the list of Scheduled Tribes to the Central Government in a hurry, has come as

a big relief. The court also directed the Collector of Dhaulpur not to allow any rallies in the area. If some

one seeks permission to hold a rally or Mahapanchayat, the Collector should decide as per the rules. In

such a situation, the Collector would be responsible for maintaining law and order. If such a rally caused

damage to Government property, the Collector would be accountable for the same. These two directives

of the High Court came on Monday during the hearing on a petition filed by Lakham Singh and Srinaryan

Kaimla before a single bench comprising Justice Prem Shankar Asopa. The petitioners had challenged

the appointment of the Jasraj Chopra Committee to look into the demands of the Gujjar Sangharsh Samiti

for listing of the community as a Scheduled Tribe. The petitioners also sought that the Gujjar

Mahapanchayat at Dhaulpur on September 13 not be allowed. The Government, after an agreement with

the Gujjar Sangharash Samiti, had given three months time to the Chopra Committee to submit its report.

The three-month period is ending on September 12 but Justice Chopra sought an extension of three

months. The Government had urged the Sanghrash Samiti to wait for another three months but the Samiti

disagreed and said it would decide its next course of action at the proposed Mahapanchayat. (Pioneer

12/9/07)

---

Gujjar Mahapanchayat to relaunch stir demanding ST status (6)

Badi (Dhaulpur) : Rejecting the Government’s decision to give more time to the three-member high

powered Chopra Committee, the Gujjar Mahapanchayat on Thursday announced plans to launch a

non-violent agitation from October 2, to press their demand for inclusion of the community in the list of

Scheduled Tribes. Though the sober elements of Gujjar Sanghrash Samiti (GSS), spearheading the

agitation to get the ST status, were in the mood to give some more time to the Government and the

Chopra Committee, the crowd, estimated about a lakh, refused to listen to them. When GSS president Col

Kirori Singh Bainsla said that there was no harm in giving one more month to the committee to complete

its work, the crowd loudly said no and Bainsla and other leaders were virtually forced to announce the

re-launch of the agitation from October 2. Last night, the Government had extended the term of the Jasraj

Chopra Committee, looking into the case of Gujjars. The Government said that the term of the committee

was being extended after consultations with GSS. But its leaders said that at no stage they agreed to give

more time to the committee, which was appointed on June 12 and was given three months time to submit

its report. Talking to mediapersons, Col Bainsla said that the Government has the prerogative to extend

the term of the committee and GSS has nothing to do with it. But at the same time GSS is free to reject

the decision of the Government, which had promised that the committee would submit its report within the

stipulated time. The GSS selected the day and venue of Thursday’s Mahapanchayat very carefully. The

annual Babu Maharaj Mela, on Thursday, was held near the temple. Thousands of people from the Gujjar

community came to participate in the Mela, which is one of the major attraction in the area. People from

the adjoining areas started reaching here since Wednesday evening. Most of them spent their time in

attending the Mahapachayat after performing the puja at the temple. The district administration had made

elaborate police arrangements. (Pioneer 14/9/07)

---

Gujjars plan “jail bharo” from October 2 (6)

JAIPUR: The Gujjar community’s ‘mahapanchayat’ in Dholpur district on Thursday refused to condone the

Rajasthan Government’s act of extending the term of the Justice Jasraj Chopra Committee by another

three months. The Committee was appointed to look into the Gujjars’ demand for Scheduled Tribe status .

The mahapanchayat, which went on for seven hours from 10 a.m. amidst minor skirmishes and flare-ups

amongst the jostling crowd, finally resolved to commence a “jail bharo”(courting arrest) agitation from

October 2, the Gandhi Jayanti day. A day after the deadline set by the community leaders for a positive

response to their demand from the Government expired, the Gujjar leaders on the dais at Pabuji Ki Than,

a religious place some 37 km from Dholpur town in Bari tehsil, were visibly floundering but those

assembled there from several States — Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,

Gujarat and Maharashtra — were firm on not granting any more time to the State Government. (The

Hindu 14/9/07)

---

Meenas plan meets to counter Gujjar agitation (6)

Jaipur : Ahead of the proposed Jail Bharo agitation by Gujjars for the inclusion of the community in

Schedule Tribe from October 2, Meenas, the dominant ST community in the State, would hold a series of

Meena Mahasammelans to oppose the demand of Gujjars. The Action Committee of the Rashtriya

Janjatia Arkashan Bachao Samiti, had decided to have the first such meet at Thanagazi in Alwar on

September 30. This would be followed by Sammelans at Khatu Shayamji on October 7 and Karauli on

October 14. According to Bhanwar Lal Meena, convener of the action committee, the Gujjars are

unnecessarily pressing for ST status for the community. Meanwhile, talking to mediapersons at Alwar on

Sunday, Col Kirori Singh Bainsla, president of the Gujjar Sangharash Samiti (GSS) spearheading the

agitation, said that at least five lakh Gujjars across the State, would participate in the Jail Bharo agitation.

The district level coordination committees have been formed to mobilise the support for the agitation, he

said. Col Bainsla said that the Justice Chopra Committee, looking into the demands of the Gujjars, is

doing its work satisfactorily. He hoped that the committee would recommend ST status for Gujjars.

Keeping in view of the Jail Bharo agitation, the Government has started identifying buildings where

arrested agitators could be kept. This was necessary because of the limited accommodation available in

different jails in the State. The total capacity of the jails in the State is about 17,000 and currently about

14,000 prisoners are lodged in them. According to sources, the Government is persuading the GSS to

keep its Jail Bharo agitation as symbolic one and not to covert it into a mass agitation. (Pioneer 25/9/07)

---

Five lakh Gujjars to court arrest on Oct 2 (6)

Jaipur : Over five lakh Gujjars will court arrest in Rajasthan on Gandhi Jayanti Day over the community’s

demand for SC status, the Gujjar Mahasabha announced here on Wenesday. The Mahasabha’s core

group led by two BJP rebel MLAs Atar Singh Bhadana and Prahalad Gunjal also warned the Raje

Government that if a recommendation letter with its Cabinet approval was not sent to the Centre by

October 10, women and children of the community would also court arrest from October 11, according to

a spokesman. The group rejected a three-month extension to the Justice Chopra committee on the

Gujjars’ status in Rajastan, alleging it was ridiculous to give it more time, the spokesman said. Retired

Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsala, who was the main signatory of the Gujjar-Government accord of June 4

after an agitation on the issue, was not present at Wednesday’s meeting, the spokesman said. (Pioneer

27/9/07)

---

Modi hands over forest land rights to tribals (6)

Ahmedabad : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi challenged the UPA ruled Centre to take action

against him for handing over ownership rights of forest lands to the tribals in defiance of the Central law.

The Chief Minister used the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti day here on Tuesday to flag off his ‘civil

disobedience ‘movement from the open air theatre in the heart of new Ahmedabad with a token gesture of

handing over ownership rights to 30 tribals selected from different talukas in the tribal belt. “The titles to

the remaining 2,204 tribals would be dispatched to their addresses,” he announced at the function held

under the aegis of the State Forest Department. The function was a sequel to the warning held out by the

Chief Minister during the flag hoisting on Independence Day wherein he had said that if the Centre failed

to give its approval by this date, he would go ahead by handing over the papers for the rights to forest land

for the remaining tribals. According to the Chief Minister, the Centre had failed to clear the proposals of

the State Government for giving over land ownership rights to 3,355 tribals under the 1980 Forest Act.”All

formalities of 2,204 applicants for ownership rights of 1,122 hectares of forest land stands cleared and yet

the assent is not forthcoming,” he added. The Chief Minister held the Centre responsible for neglecting

them as well as hurting their sentiments as was visible from the Ram setu episode. While attributing

motives to the Government of deliberately neglecting the tribals, he said the Centre had failed to form

rules for the implementation of the revised Forest Land Act adopted in 2005. Meanwhile, a new tribal

district, Tapi with headquarters at Vyara and comprising five tribal tehsils carved out of rural areas of Surat

district, came into being on Tuesday. The 26th district is the Chief Minister’s Gandhi Jayanti gift to the

State. (Pioneer 3/10/07)

---

Forest dwellers court arrest (6)

New Delhi, Oct. 3: Hundreds of tribals and forest dwellers marched and courted arrest in various parts of

the country on Tuesday on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi to protest against the government’s move to

“sabotage” the Forest Rights Act. The protests will continue in the coming weeks. The central demands of

the tribals and forest dwellers are: no more attacks on their people, no more destruction of their

homelands and no more sabotage of their rights. The protesters oppose the moves to “sabotage” the

Forest Rights Act by undermining the rules and engaging in sabotage of rights through sham efforts at

tiger conservation. The protesters also condemn the repeated moves of the government to use police

forces and violence to seize the resources of tribals and forest dwellers, while sabotaging all laws that

provide for democratic control over forests and resources. On Tuesday, people joined protests across

Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and elsewhere to show their

protest. Tens of thousands faced arrest and detention by the police. In the following weeks, protests will

continue in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu. The groups

made the following demands with the slogan: “Jangal ko azad karo (give freedom to the forests).” They

demanded that the government recognise all genuine forest dependent people and exclude contractors,

traders, and exploiters and stop the militarisation and seizure of their lands. (Asian Age 4/10/07)

---

Judges help create legal awareness among tribals (6)

Koraput : A district-level Legal Awareness Camp was organised by the District Legal Aid Services

Authority, Jeypore, on Sunday in the premises of Educational Complex at Minarabali in Boipariguda block.

The camp was inaugurated by Jeypore Special Vigilance Court Magistrate Bhikari Charan Rout and

presided over by Legal Aid Services Registrar and Secretary RL Panda. “We have to create awareness

among the people, particularly the tribals, regarding their legal rights and it is proposed to hold legal

awareness camps at the grass-root level,” said Additional District Judge GC Panigrahi. Jeypore district

Sub-Judge PK Panigrahi, the district Additional Tehsildar and BDO of Boipariguda were among the others

who addressed the camp. “We thank the District Legal Aid authorities for taking the initiative to inform us

about our legal rights and making us aware of the different laws. We are proud that the judges, whom we

could have never seen except in courts, came to our doorsteps. We, being tribals, fear the judicial

department and police but we got an opportunity of interacting with them today,” said a tribal woman. The

camp was followed by a tribal folk dance that was performed by the students of the complex. The

programme ended with a vote of thanks by Swarnaprava Behera, the coordinator of the Institute. (Pioneer

4/10/07)

---

Ownership ‘pattas’ for forest dwellers likely, says Minister (6)

HYDERABAD: Tribal Welfare Minister D.S. Redya Naik said that the Government was considering

issuance of ownership ‘pattas’ to people, who had been tilling forest land for several decades once the

Scheduled Tribes, Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act comes into force. “Ownership for close to five

lakh acres of forest land can be given to tribals and non-tribals, who have been cultivating the forest lands

for years,” Mr. Redya Naik said at a press conference here on Wednesday. The State Government is

gearing up to bring legislation on the lines of the Central Act so that the land could be given to eligible

tribals and non-tribals, he observed. “The earlier legislations prevented Government from issuing pattas to

the tiller but the new Act will be a boon for the forest dwellers,” he said, adding that the Government was

hopeful that the State legislation would be ready by the year-end. Mr. Redya Naik said that to tackle the

land disputes in the agency area, 18 vacancies of forest settlement officers would be filled shortly. There

are 986 reserved forest blocks in which 12.34 lakh hectares forest land is under dispute. A survey is on to

identify such lands and make efforts to settle the disputes, he remarked. Highlighting the achievements of

the Remote and Interior Areas Development Department in the last three years, the Minister said Rs. 900

crore would be spent in the next two years to lay black-topped roads in the remote areas. He said the

RIAD covered 5,622 villages in 332 mandals in 18 districts of the State. The emphasis was on providing

infrastructure facilities in the rural areas. Besides this, employment opportunities for the educated tribals,

improvement in educational institutions, redressal of land disputes, laying of roads in all villages, provision

for safe drinking water and electrification of the villages was the priority under RIAD. Principal Secretary,

RIAD, A.K. Tigdi, was present. (The Hindu 4/10/07)

---

Land for tribals: court restrains Gujarat (6)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday restrained the Gujarat government from issuing new “pattas” or

possession letters, vesting ownership rights over forest land in tribals. Those already given will be subject

to further orders. A “Forest Bench,” comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat

and S.H. Kapadia, passed the order after amicus curiae Harish Salve (acting on a report published by

The􀀀Hindu on October 3) filed an application that ownership rights over forest land were handed over to

30 tribals by Chief Minister Narendra Modi on October 2. The Bench issued notice to the Gujarat

government seeking its response to the application. Quoting the report, Mr. Salve said the Central

Empowered Committee wrote to the State government in this regard. Possession letters were issued

without the Centre’s permission or clearance. The application said that similar documents in favour of

2,200 persons were to be despatched soon and the total forest land involved was reported to be over

34,000 hectares. The State government’s action would be in violation of the apex court orders. (The Hindu

6/10/07)

---

Tribals campaign for protecting wildlife (6)

Bhubaneswar: Here is a good news for the State Government and non-governmental organisations, which

have been incessantly organising a number of awareness programmes to raise the level of consciousness

among people on conserving forests and its ecosystem on the eve of Wildlife Week Celebrations, as the

people living inside two sanctuaries in the State actually made a unique beginning this year. Hundreds of

villagers residing inside the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary in Nuapada district and Badrama Wildlife

Sanctuary in Sambalpur district celebrated Nuakhai, one of the most important festivals of western Orissa,

deep inside the forest and offered special pujas to the wild animals. Nuakhai is one of the occasions when

communities get together and celebrate the harvest in their respective houses and villages. “However, this

time we celebrated the festival inside the forest. We thought since we depend on forest resources for our

livelihood and wildlife is an integral part of the forest, people should realise their roles in conservation

efforts,” says secretary of Sunabeda Sangharsh Vahini, Duryodhan Majhi. People from six gram

panchayats such as Sunabeda, Soseng, Sialati, Kermeli, Bharuamunda, and Chulabhat congregated at

Kermeli to worship nature and symbolically observed Nuakhai, considering the forest and wildlife as their

family members. The celebration of Nuakhai was started in September and continued for one month

across western Orissa. Similarly, villagers depending on Badrama forest also assembled at Kureibahal

village and participated in the celebration. Elderly people talked about necessity of conserving forest and

wildlife for future. About 30,000 people living in the sanctuaries depend on the forest resources. Earlier

policies were centered on the principle of shifting the people in the fringe areas of forests had alienated

people from conservation, said Tushar Das, a researcher working with an NGO Vasundhara. “The gesture

on part of villagers is a good beginning. Integration of conservation models with the popular festivals would

go a long way in addressing conservation goals,” Mr. Das said. (The Hindu 6/10/07)

---

Cancel pattas given to tribals: SC to Modi (6)

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 5: When gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi decided to throw the gauntlet at

the Central Government, he probably did not know that it was the Supreme Court that he was defying. In

his “civil disobedience movement” on Gandhi Jayanti, Modi handed over ownership rights of forest land to

30 tribals. He promised to dispatch documents to the remaining 2,204 encroachers soon. On Friday,

responding to an interim application filed by Amicus Curiae Harish Salve, the Supreme Court directed the

Gujarat Government to immediately cancel the pattas. They reminded the state that it would be a violation

of Supreme Court orders until the Government notifies the Tribal Act passed by Parliament in December

2006. The application said that there is a procedure laid down for state governments to request

regularisation of forest land by applying to the Ministry of Forests and Environment. States like Orissa and

Chhatisgarh have followed it in the past. Regularisation of encroachments is the biggest reason for

reduction in forest cover, it said. The matter was brought to the attention of the court by the Central

Empowered Committee (CEC), the Supreme-Court-appointed panel on forest-related issues. A day after

Modi’s public announcement, they had written a strongly-worded letter to the Gujarat Chief Secretary

asking him to cancel all the pattas and file an Action Taken Report at the earliest. They had also written to

the Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests to conduct an ‘immediate inquiry” and issue

“directions” to cancel these allotments. They had pointed out that Modi’s largesse violates the Supreme

Court order of November 2001 that had granted stay against regularisation of the encroachments on

forest land prior to October 1980. In addition, the same writ petition had also stayed grants of land titles or

regularisation of encroachments till December 1993. “Both the above orders granting stay by the Supreme

Court are still continuing. In view of this, grant of titles of forest land to any person will be in violation of the

orders of the SC,” said the letter. On October 2, Modi claimed he had forwarded 3,355 applications of

tribals for approval under the 1980 Forest Act, but the Central Government failed to give its assent. In his

speech, the CM went on to claim that Gujarat was the only state which had handed over ownership rights

of over 34,000 hectares of forest land to 45,000 families. The Act in question, recognises the rights of

tribals over forest land which they have been occupying for generations. The Bill was passed by the

Parliament in December 2006 after sharp differences between the tribal activists on the one side and

wildlife enthusiasts on the other. Under pressure, the Centre is yet to notify the rules. (Indian Express

6/10/07)

---

Tribal chiefs in Meghalaya to honour Al Gore (6)

Shillong : The tribal chiefs in Meghalaya will honour five eminent Indians along with former US vice

president Al Gore for their extraordinary work in promoting global peace, democracy and environment at

the second People’s Parliament convened on Saturday. While Al Gore has been chosen as the recipient

of the global award for his highly acclaimed environmental documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ that

earned him three Academy Awards, the chiefs selected noted Gandhian and peace-maker Nirmala

Deshpande as one of the five prominent Indians for the national award. The other four recipients are

famed economist Arjun Sen Gupta, Major Ahluwalia, a war victim who has single-handedly built a top

hospital for the disabled, E Sreedharan, Chairman and Managing Director, Delhi Metro, Lok Sabha MP

Dinesh Trivedi of Trinamul Congress from West Bengal and Bhushan Raina, editor, Business Economics.

Besides the chiefs also will honour 13 State achievers, including Dr Milton Sangma, advisor of the Garo

Council of Nokma, renowned educationists and folk musician Helen Giri and Dr Balajied Sing Syiem, the

chief of Khyrim. The awards which include a citation and traditional gifts, said Robert Kharshiing, chairman

of the Rajya Sabha Grassroots Democracy Advisory Council. The second Peoples Parliament — Dorbar

Ri, as it is called by the Khasi tribe — has been convened to demand protection of the traditional

grassroots institutions and preservation of ancient environmental knowledge. “We are hosting the second

People’s Parliament at Mawphlang to draw the attention of the global community to this sacred forest site,

which has been protected and preserved by our ancestors for centuries,” said NK Lyngdoh, the chief of

the Mawphlang Elaka (traditional territory). “The sacred forest is the abode of the Ryngkew Basa (the

forest spirit), which is a treasure trove of rare plants, medicinal herbs and orchids,” he said. However, with

the changing climate, degradation of environment and globalisation, the rich greeneries and biodiversity

are facing threat of extinction. “We need to protect and preserve them for the posterity,” he said.Over

3,00,000 people, including traditional chiefs representing the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo tribes are expected

to attend this unique people’s conclave near an ancient sacred grove at Mawphlang, about 20 km from

Shillong, Lyngdoh said. he chiefs will also observe two minutes silence in memory of the Buddhists monks

who died in the ongoing movement for democracy in Burma. The day coincides with the observance of the

Global Day of Action for Free Burma.(Pioneer 6/10/07)

---

M.P. to give ‘pattas’ to tribals (6)

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has said that “pattas” (land ownership

rights) would be given to the tribals occupying forest land keeping December 13, 2005, as the cut-off date.

The Central Government is framing rules for this purpose, he said, adding that in case the rules are not

finalised within a month, the Madhya Pradesh government would start distributing pattas. Addressing a

function organised as part of Janadesh-2007 Satyagraha Padyatra organised by Ekta Parishad here over

the weekend, the Chief Minister announced open support to any non-violent movement in the interest of

the common people. The Chief Minister said influential persons illegally occupying forest land allotted to

the tribals would be evicted and possession of land would be given to the rightful owners. He said

Janadesh was enhancing awareness and educating the poor about their rights. (The Hindu 7/10/07)

---

Communal tension in Kandhamal (6)

BERHAMPUR: Tension mounts up in Kandhamal district as Kui tribals are continuing their public

meetings and awareness campaign among tribals against the Pana harijans of the district. Three Kui tribal

organisations of the district — Nikhil Utkal Kui Samaj of G. Udaygiri, Kui Kula Samiti of Baliguda and Kui

Samaj Seva Samiti — have joined hands to form Kandhmal Zilla Kui Samaj coordination committee. They

are opposed to recent demand by a section of Pana harijans to be identified as Kui tribals in official

records as they speak Kui language and obey some tribal rituals. The recent tension started due to

activities of an NGO named Phulbani Kui Jankalyan Sangh of Bhubaneswar which has approached Orissa

high court with the demand that Panas of Kandhamal should be treated as tribals. The secretary of the

coordination committee, Lambodar Kanhar, has alleged that State Minister Padmanabh Behera is behind

the effort. According to Mr. Kanhar, the committee has already sent letters to the State Government

demanding removal of Mr. Behera from the Cabinet as he is involved in fanning communal tension for

political gains. Since last month the coordination committee of Kui tribals has held a series of meetings in

different parts, where they have openly come out against Mr. Behera. (The Hindu 9/10/07)

---

Social activists to meet Sonia (6)

NEW DELHI: Led by Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy, a delegation of social activists will meet United

Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on land-for-landless issue. In this regard, they will remind

her on Monday about the importance of land redistribution legislation as pledged for in the National

Common Minimum Programme. Working on the premise that the country will not achieve a structural end

to rural poverty without land reforms, including redistributive measures, and security of tenure and

ownership, the delegation will also submit a draft National Land Reform Policy prepared by the Ekta

Parishad for the government’s perusal. A copy of the draft policy has already been submitted to the Prime

Minister’s Office. The meeting with Ms. Gandhi takes place in the backdrop of a people’s march to Delhi

that began from Gwalior on Gandhi Jayanti. Landless people and tribals from a dozen States are

scheduled to reach the Capital by October 28 after walking 350 km to up the demand for land

redistribution legislation. The draft policy submitted to the PMO envisages a scenario where land reforms

become central to public policy measures of all state governments. Some salient features of the policy

suggested by the Ekta Parishad include reduced statutory ceilings on agricultural land holdings in the light

of enhanced land productivity, particularly where assured irrigation is available; strict enforcement of

ceiling laws by plugging all loopholes, including benami transactions; and an end to exemptions on land

given to religious, charitable, educational and industrial organisations/units. Also, according to the social

activists, government revenue land should be allotted to the landless poor with highest priority to those

belonging to the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes who constitute the largest number of landless

agricultural labour; and women’s rights of inheritance to agricultural and homestead lands ensured.

Besides, single woman-headed households and SCs/STs should be given “tree pattas” over

non-cultivable and forest wastelands. (The Hindu 15/10/07)

---

Kui tribals up in arms in Kandhamal district (6)

BERHAMPUR: Despite promises from the Chief Minister and officials, Kui tribals of Kandhamal district are

continuing their agitation, seeking action against persons who instigated dalits of the district to categorise

them as tribals. On Sunday, the district Kui Samaj Coordination Committee organised a tribals’ meeting on

the issue at Sarangada of Nuapada block. On Saturday, a similar meeting was organised at Linepada of

the Chakapada block. The meetings were part of a series being organised since last month to mobilise

tribals throughout the district. The tribals met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday in Bhubaneswar

with a list of four demands. The Chief Minister promised them to look into the demands and urged them to

maintain peace. He also added that no non-tribal would be identified as tribal in the district. But the tribal

leaders demanded the resignation of State Minister Padmanabh Behera, action against an NGO of

Bhubaneswar, and action against MP R.K. Nayak. Recently, there was tension following a petition filed by

an NGO of Bhubaneswar Phulbani Kui Jankalyan Sangh in the Orissa High Court with a plea to identify

Pana dalits of Kandhanmal district as Kui tribals in the official records as they speak Kui and perform

some tribal rituals. The Kandhamal district Kui Samaj Coordination Committee alleged that Mr. Behera

and Mr. Nayak were behind the attempt. Lambodar Kanhar, secretary of the committee, said that the

attempt of vested interests would have led to violent clashes between the two communities in Kandhamal

district like what happened in 1994. “So, we want strict action against these persons,” he said. Recently,

State Revenue Secretary G.V. Sharma and State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development

Commissioner Tara Dutt visited the district to bring the situation under control. They said that the there

was no effort by any agency to declare Pana dalits of the district as tribals. (The Hindu 15/10/07)

---

Tribal farmers in Andhra to get forest land (6)

Hyderabad : Scheduled tribe farmers in Andhra Pradesh would be given about one million hectares of

forestland under a special law, State Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy announced today. The land

will be distributed to the Schedule Tribe farmers under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest

Dwellers (Reorganisation of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. Reviewing the tribal welfare measures being taken

up in the State with Special Secretary here, Reddy said the rules for this purpose are being formulated

and forestland would be brought under cultivation in a phased manner as this process of conversion of

land to cultivable takes time. A large number of tribal families were dependent on agriculture and

land-based activities, he said, adding his Government had initiated various programmes for development

of Schedule Tribe farmers like distribution of land. Of the total tribal population in Andhra Pradesh, 43.21

percent are cultivators, 43.72 per cent agricultural labourers and the remaining 13.07 per cent in different

occupations. In the last three years, 30,262 acres of government land had been assigned to 16,127

Schedule Tribe farmers in the state, Chief Minister said. The CM also said that his Government was also

committed to improving the lot of Schedule Castes, Backward Castes and other weaker sections by way

of land distribution and development schemes so that they come at par with the society. (Pioneer

15/10/07)

---

Over 2.79 lakh tribal girls benefit from Govt scheme (6)

Bhopal : More than 2.79 lakh tribal girls have benefited from the literacy scheme launched for promoting

education among tribal students. The State Government has spent nearly Rs 20.25 crore for implementing

the scheme. In accordance with the scheme, 2,10,633 girls of Class VI and 68,666 girls of Class IX and XI

have been benefited. Besides, scholarship of Rs 500 to Class VI girls , Rs 1,000 to Class IX girls, Rs

2,000 to Class XI girls are given under this scheme. During the last few years a lot girls were given

scholarship under this scheme. As in the year 2003-04, 45,000 girls of Class VIII were given scholarship

of Rs 1 crore 95 lakh and 8 thousand. In the year 2004-05, 50,546 girls were provided with scholarship of

Rs 2 crore 47 lakh and 93 thousand. (Pioneer 17/10/07)

---

Delay in notifying Forest Act annoying people: Raja (6)

New Delhi : Urging the Centre to immediately notify the Forest Act, CPI leader D Raja on Wednesday

alleged it was being held up by some ‘vested’ interests for the last 10 months since its rules were drafted.

“The continued failure of the Government to notify the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest

Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is a betrayal of the people,” Raja, national Secretary of

CPI said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Alleging that ‘vested’ interests have been trying to

undermine the Act to the extent that amendments were later made to weaken it, the Left leader said, “the

delay in notifying it was causing unrest among people facing repression and brutal violence in various

parts of the country”. (Pioneer 18/10/07)

---

Cong poll plank hit as Law Ministry delays Tribal Act (6)

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 18: The Union Law Ministry has put a dampener on the Congress party’s plan to

cash in on the Tribal Act that recognised Adivasis’ rights over forest land in the forthcoming Assembly

elections in Gujarat. Official sources said though the draft rules to implement the Scheduled Tribes and

Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, had been sent to the Law

Ministry over two weeks back, those concerned continued to sit over it despite repeated reminders from

the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Tribal Affairs Minister P R Kyndiah was learnt to have telephoned Law

Minister HR Bhardwaj to expedite the process given the “political sensitivity” of the issue. The Law

Ministry, however, expressed helplessness as it was tied up with too many urgent matters, said sources.

According to sources, the Law Ministry was likely to clear the rules early next week, but the final

notification would take at least ten days because it would have to be translated into Hindi. The notification

would not violate the model code of conduct in the state as the Act was for the entire country, argued

officials. Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi tried to be one up on the Congress, giving

pattas to 30 tribals on Gandhi Jayanti day. He promised to dispatch the documents to the remaining

encroachers soon. The Supreme Court subsequently directed the State Government to cancel the pattas

because they were illegal in the absence of the notification of the Act by the Centre. But, with his “brazen

act” Modi had managed to snatch the initiative from the Congress, conceded Congressmen adding that

the Centre’s delay in notifying the rules and the Act could create confusion among illiterate tribals about

the authorship of the Act that gave them ownership rights over forestland. “By the time the Centre notifies

the Act, we will not have enough time to translate it into votes,” said a senior Congress leader from

Gujarat. After the Act was passed in Parliament last December, Congress leaders like Sabarkantha MP

Madhusudan Mistry had started distributing application forms among tribals in Gujarat to claim their right

on forest land. The filled forms were obtained with the promise that once the Act was notified, tribals would

get ownership rights. The undue delay, which was exploited by Modi, has taken the sting out of the

Congress campaign. Scheduled Tribes play a decisive role in electing one-fourth of the 182-member state

Assembly. Of the total, 26 seats are reserved for STs. Tribals and OBCs together dominate 21 other

seats, said a Congress source. Of the 25 revenue districts, 11 are dominated by tribals. (Indian Express

19/10/07)

---

Orchids a major source of income for tribals during Dussehra (6)

Bhubaneswar : The Koraput valley, known for its dense forests and is also a haven to a number of orchids

are a major source of income for the tribals during the Dussehra celebrations. The tribals venture into the

forests during the wee hours in the morning to pluck the flowers in order to deck their goddesses in

garlands made of them. The flowers, which are locally called Kunda, Bati, Manda, Maricha Mandar are

used to prepare these beautiful garlands. The flowers are weaved onto creepers with a few leaves in order

to make the garland more decorative. On being asked the reason behind their interest in selling flowers,

pat comes the reply, Jatara dekha and phool bika, which means “We want to see the festival, the goddess

and serve her with flowers while earning some money to spend during the fest.” Selling flowers and

making garlands is a job done exclusively by the women-folk of the community. Hundreds of women with

head-loads of flower trek miles to reach the palace town of Jeypore for selling them. The competition may

be neck-to-neck, but they say it is the pleasure that drives them to the palace gate. The tribal communities

from Bhumia, Paraja, Mali and Gouda are seen mostly on the jobs; selling these flowers to a variety of

customers ranging from devotees to shopkeepers, vehicle owners to commercial complexes who

decorate their premises during Dussehra. (Pioneer 23/10/07)

---

Tribal Act rules to be notified next week (6)

New Delhi, October 25: The UPA Government is set to notify rules to implement the Scheduled Tribes and

Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 early next week. The Law

Ministry, which had sent the draft rules to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs early this week, is learnt to have got

a green signal from the latter. “We are in the process of translating the rules in Hindi now. They are likely

to be completed early next week,” said ministry sources. The notification was earlier being delayed under

pressure from the wildlife lobby supported by a section of the Congress, who argued that giving pattas to

tribals and other occupants of the forests before relocating them would have serious implication for

national parks and sanctuaries. Law Ministry officials, however, noted that there were provisions in the Act

to notify “inviolate” areas for wildlife conservation. Ministry of Environment & Forests has to do it after

consultations with an expert committee. “Since the Act itself provides for Critical Wildlife Habitats, there

was no need to incorporate them in the rules. Wherever the Act is explicit, the rules remain silent,” said

officials, adding that rules were “ready for notification” and the Congress leadership had to take a call now.

Congress sources said Sonia Gandhi had given a go ahead to Minister for Tribal Affairs P R Kyndiah

when he sought her opinion recently about notifying the rules. Tribal Affairs Ministry concurred with the

Ministry of Environment & Forests that tribals staying in national parks and sanctuaries should “not be

touched” until steps for their relocation and rehabilitation were in place. (Indian Express 26/10/07)

---

NHRC worried for tribal workers (6)

New Delhi, Oct. 23: The National Human Rights Commission has expressed deep concern at the death of

tribals from Madhya Pradesh who worked as labourers in the quartz crushing factories in Godhra due to

silicosis. The commission, taking cognisance of reports that about 200 tribals have died in the quartz

factories of Godhra and Balasinor in Gujarat due to silicosis, has sent notices to the state governments of

both Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, according to a release from the NHRC here on Tuesday. As per the

news report, the tribals were exposed to silica dust and no protection was given to them at their work

place. The report said about 200 tribals have died in the last four years and the labourers who returned to

their villages in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh and died of silicotuberculosis there were not getting any

compensation. After going through the report, the commission directed that the same be forwarded to the

chief secretaries of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and also to the district collectors of Panchamahal and

Jhabua for a factual report within four weeks. (Asian Age 26/10/07)

---

GUJJAR AGITATION

Meenas launch move against Gujjar stir (6)

Jaipur : With the stage set for Jail Bharo agitation by Gujjars from October 2 to get Scheduled Tribe

status, Meenas, the largest ST community in the State, on Sunday launched a counter move to oppose

the demands of Gujjars. A Meena Mahapanchayat was held under the banner of Jan Jati Arkshan Bachao

Samiti at Naryani in Alwar on Sunday. The response to the Mahapnachayat was considerably good. The

speaker at the Mahapanchayat pledged that they would not allow the Gujjars to be included in ST, as they

did not deserve this status. Another Meena Conference is being organised by the Rajasthan Adivasi

Parishad on Monday, which would be addressed by Union Minister of State for Environment Namoranyan

Meena and some other prominent leaders of the community. Raghuvir Meena, a Congress MLA and

president of the parishad (council), claimed that many BJP leaders of Meena community would also attend

the conference. On Saturday, Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria raised the issue of giving ST status to

the Gujjars in the meeting of Rashtriya Ekta Parishad in Delhi. He said that since this demand was not

being raised only in Rajasthan but in many other States, this should be included in the agenda for the next

meeting of the parishad. Meanwhile, the ruling BJP leaders are trying to peruse leaders of the Gujjar

Sangharash Samiti (GSS) to postpone its proposed Jail Bharo agitation as the Government was sincerely

looking into their demands. Last evening State BJP president Mahesh Sharma had a long meeting with

Col Kirori Singh Bainsala, president of GSS. Some other Gujjar leaders were also present in this meeting.

But the Gujjar leaders refused to budge from their stand and insisted that the agitation would continue till

the State Government recommended their case to the Centre. These efforts continued till late on Sunday

evening but could not yield much results. Meanwhile, elaborate police and administrative arrangements

have been made to tackle the Gujjar agitation. The GSS has announced that in the first phase they would

court arrests at five division headquarters. At least five lakh people would participate in this leg of the

agitation. About 40 companies of police have been deployment in about 12 districts. A number of

Magistrates have also been appointed in these districts. Since there is not much accommodation available

in the State jails, the Government had notified some schools and other Government buildings as jails,

where arrested agitators would be kept. The Government has requisitioned a large number of State

Roadways and private buses to transport the agitators to the jails. But the private bus operators on

Sunday resorted to a strike to oppose the requisition of the their buses for the purpose. (Pioneer 1/10/07)

---

“Wrong policies behind caste unrest” (6)

JAIPUR: Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot has expressed concern over the growing discord

among caste groups in Rajasthan in the wake of the Gujjar community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe

status. He blamed the “wrong” policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the State for the

caste unrest. Speaking to newspersons here on the eve of the Gujjar community’s “jail bharo” (fill the jails)

agitation to be held in the five divisional headquarter towns of the State on Gandhi Jayanti, Mr. Gehlot said

the “false promises” made by the BJP to Gujjars during the Assembly elections had led to the present

predicament in which the community was out on the streets. “Every community or group has a right under

the Constitution to put forth its demand in a peaceful manner,” Mr. Gehlot said referring to the agitation.

“However, the present tension is also due to the government trying to play up one community against the

other,” he said referring the Gujjar-Meena stand-off on the ST status to the former. “I hope everyone

would keep it in mind that tomorrow is Gandhi Jayanti,” he observed. The State Government, grappling

with the agitations had very little time to provide any governance here during the past two years, Mr.

Gehlot said. “The Chief Minister, busy handling protests and agitations and dissidence within her party, is

left with no time to give any time for governance,” he charged. Referring to the recent changes in the

Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC), Mr. Gehlot said the appointments were not on the

basis of caste. “PCC changes are a regular process and the leadership is not decided on caste lines,” he

said. He hoped that the new State president, C.P. Joshi, would bring together all sections of people.

Volunteering to comment on the charges from certain caste leaders that he was against the Jat

community, Mr. Gehlot said he never practised caste politics. Dr. Joshi’s appointment had come, as a

disappointment to a section of Jats as Harendra Mirdha, son of veteran Congress leader Ram Niwas

Mirdha, too was one of the contenders. (The Hindu 2/10/07)

---

No more talks, Gurjjars set out to court arrest (6)

JAIPUR, OCTOBER 1: Shouting slogans of “jail bharo”, thousands of Gurjjars across Rajasthan are

marching towards their destinations where they will court arrest on Tuesday. With the Justice Chopra

Committee, failing to submit its report within three months, Gurjjars announced that more than two lakh

members from the community would court arrests on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti. The committee was

formed by the Raje Government to look into the Gurjjars’s demand for tribal status. “The mood is upbeat

and our determination is strong. No one here is ready for talks. We are all eager to get arrested and mark

our protest. It does not matter how long we have to stay behind bars, we want reservation,” said Gurjjar

leader Roop Singh. Meanwhile, Gurjjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla refused to go to Jaipur for talks with the

Rajasthan Government and will court arrest at Rajsamand. Dausa MP Sachin Pilot is expected to court

arrest in Jaipur. “We begin this movement in Rajasthan but if we do not get reservation within the next four

days, the movement will spread to the rest of the country, as Gujjars from others states will also court

arrests,” said Pilot. Members of the community will court arrests at Jaipur, Bharatpur, Kota, Rajsamand,

and Ajmer. As many as 259 make-shift jails have been constructed across the state and at certain places,

temporary jails have been constructed on a playgrounds. The Chief Minister has directed her ministers

and MLAs to monitor the arrangements made by the district and police departments, said sources. Police

and administrative officials have been deployed in sensitive areas of the state and Section 144 has been

imposed in 18 districts of the state. Gurjjars courting arrests would be treated like prisoners and they will

be arrested under Section 151 of the IPC, added sources. “We have been asked to maintain a record of

details, thumb impressions and photographs of those arrested. The prisoners will not be allowed to carry

any of their belongings and will be given food served in jails. They will be allowed to meet visitors once in

seven days,” said a senior administrator (Indian Express 2/10/07)

---

Gujjars court arrest over quota (6)

Jaipur, Oct. 2: Thousands of Gujjars demanding Scheduled Tribe status for their community courted

arrest in Rajasthan on Tuesday. The Gujjars protested in several cities across Rajasthan and offered

themselves for arrest. Police sources said over 70,000 Gujjars come out to protest. Meanwhile, tribal

leaders from all over India blamed politics for the movement. Shouting slogans, the Gujjars took out

processions in Kota, Ajmer, Bharatpur, Rajsamand, Jaipur and Pali amid heavy security. “We came here

to get ST status, our womenfolk will resume the agitation from October 11,” said Dr Vikram Singh, a

Gujjar leader. Those who arrested included Congress MP Sachin Pilot and rebel BJP MLAs Prahald

Gunjal and Attar Singh Bhadana. “AT least 65,000 people came to protest and half of them offered

themselves for arrest. We are making lists. We are making lists of those willing to stay in jail,” said state

home minister Gulabchand Kataria. But the Gujjar leaders quoted higher numbers of protesters. The

government shifted Gujjars to 250 temporary jails in the state. The police also hired a large number of

vehicles to carry the arrested Gujjars. “No untoward incident has been reported so far,” said Mr Kataria.

“They should wait for the Chopra Commission’s report, it is difficult to recommend Gujjars for ST status

without the commission’s report,” the home minister said. (Asian Age 3/10/07)

---

Gujjar stir losing steam as top leaders are in jail (6)

Jaipur : The three-day-long Jail Bharo agitation by Gujjars on Thursday appeared to be slowly losing its

steam as only a few hundred came forward to court arrest on Thursday. The leaders of Gujjar Sangharash

Samiti (GSS) had on Wednesday announced that it would gherao Government officials at the tehsil

headquarters in protest against the alleged maltreatment meted out to the arrested Gujjars. Reports

reaching here suggest that only at a few places the agitators reached the Government offices and left

after submitting a memorandum. Reports also said that some agitators tried to block the National Highway

at Sikandara and Mahua in Dausa. They pelted stones at passing buses. Meanwhile, Chief Minister

Vasundhara Raje reviewed the situation and said the agitation was loosing its steam. But at the same time

she cautioned the district administrations to remain alert. (Pioneer 5/10/07)

---

Raje Govt. can’t handle Gujjar issue: CPI(M) (6)

JAIPUR: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has expressed concern over the internal situation in

Rajasthan in the wake of the Gujjar community’s agitation for classification as a Scheduled Tribe. The

BJP-led Government seemingly is not in a position to handle the situation even when the issue itself was

the party’s own creation, it said. “Communal and casteist forces have created an unprecedented situation

in Rajasthan in which the people are feeling insecure,” said Hannan Mollah, MP in charge of the party’s

Rajasthan affairs, after a meeting of the CPI (M) State Committee here on Friday. “The BJP only

instigated the Gujjars and now they are finding it difficult to manage the situation. Some Congress leaders

from the Gujjar community joining the issue has only aggravated the situation further,” he said. “The

prevailing atmosphere in the State is such that even small personal quarrels can turn into a communal

flare-up,” Mr. Mollah said referring to the recent violence in Shastri Nagar area of Jaipur. “This is due to

the spread of mutual distrust and lack of harmony. The atmosphere remains surcharged,” he noted. The

State Committee also termed the Rajasthan Police Act, 2007, cleared by the State Assembly in

September, an anti-people law. Mr. Mollah said the Government had a corrupt image with eight to nine

Ministers facing corruption charges. “A good number of MLAs are also found to be taking money for

getting transfers of teachers and other State Government employees,” he charged (The Hindu 6/10/07)

---

Gujjars damage tracks, disrupt railway traffic (6)

Jaipur, Oct. 7: Agitating Gujjars on Sunday disrupted rail traffic on the Delhi-Mumbai route by damaging

tracks near Bayana under Bharatpur district. Senior police and railway officials rushed to the spot. The

mob removed fish plates and damaged tracks, said a senior Railway Protection officer. According to

railway sources, a mob of 2,000 Gujjars gathered near the Fatehsinghpura railway station and removed

fish plates. This resulted in the disruption of trains. “We are trying to push the crowds away to pave way

for the restoration of rail tracks,” says Mr M.C. Deshmukh, a railway police officer. The Gujjars also

blocked roads in the area. (Asian Age 8/10/07)

Labels: Adivasi