Tribe forms human chain to keep British company off sacred mountain

Hundreds of members of the Dongria Kondh tribe, together with many tribal and non-tribal allies, formed a human chain at the base of their sacred Niyamgiri mountain on the 27th January to prevent British mining giant Vedanta from bulldozing it.

Some reports put the number of people taking part in the protest at over 10,000. Placards carried by the protesters bore slogans including 'Vedanta, go back' and 'Stop mining in Niyamgiri'.

It was the second large-scale demonstration in ten days: on 17 January up to 7,000 protesters marched to the gates of Vedanta's aluminium refinery in the nearby town of Lanjigarh.

Vedanta plans to dig an open pit mine on the top of Niyamgiri to extract the aluminium ore bauxite. India’s Supreme Court gave the mine so-called 'forest clearance' in August last year.

The mine is yet to get 'environmental clearance', but the company is already trying to build roads for the mine. Road blocks by the Dongria and other Kondh tribes have so far kept construction vehicles off the mountain.

Vedanta’s chairman Anil Agarwal recently told journalists that mining will begin in ‘a month or two’.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘By these protests the Dongria Kondh are showing just how far the authorities have failed them. The fact that the machines are run by a major British company should be a cause for shame in the City of London. This is a scandal which won't go away until Vedanta leaves the tribe in peace.’

Bill for quota immunity

Barring entry level, jobs in select institutes to be exempt

New Delhi: The Centre plans to exempt some academic institutions from job reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes except in the lowest grade posts under a bill drafted in a manner that suggests the opposite.

The exemption will cover both teaching and non-teaching posts at the IITs, IIMs and a slew of other institutions recognised as Institutes of National Importance under the laws that govern the institutions.

The move to introduce the exemptions comes three years after education minister Arjun Singh ignited a controversy by announcing OBC reservations, and suggests a departure from the UPA’s efforts to project itself as a quota-friendly government.

The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (reservation in posts and services) Bill, 2008, was passed in the Rajya Sabha in December. The government plans to obtain the Lok Sabha’s approval in the coming session — the last before its term ends.

It is listed as a bill “to provide for reservation of appointments or posts in civil services for members of the SCs and STs in establishments and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

But reservations in civil services for SC/STs already exist under Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) orders that date back to the 1950s. The quotas were extended to OBCs in jobs following the Mandal agitation in 1991.

The bill does, however, for the first time officially grant exemption to 47 academic institutions from quotas in large chunks of posts.

The human resource development ministry today handed out copies of the bill to members of the IIT council — the highest decision-making body of the engineering institutes.

The IITs violated the DoPT rules for decades to not implement any quotas in faculty posts which at present they are required to. The Telegraph had reported the violation on December 6, 2007.

Arjun Singh said in March 2008 that the institutes would have to follow quotas. In June, a formal notification was sent to the IITs, asking them to implement the reservations.

IIT directors, however, opposed the faculty quotas, arguing that reservations would hurt the quality of teaching and inject casteism into the teaching fraternity at the premier engineering schools.

In August 2008, IIT Guwahati director Gautam Barua asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene on the concerns raised by the directors. The Prime Minister promised he would take up the concerns with Arjun Singh.

The new bill has been shepherded by the Prime Minister’s Office, and was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Prithviraj Chavan, the minister of state in the PMO.

“There shall be no reservation where appointments are made to posts higher than the lowest grade of Group ‘A’ posts in institutions of national importance and the IIMs specified in the schedule,” Section 4(1)(iv) of the bill states.

The schedule lists the institutes granted exemption. The IIMs are specifically mentioned because they are not governed by a law unlike the other institutions listed in the schedule.

Group ‘A’ posts do not cover faculty posts — they describe only a category of posts that includes the registrar and other senior officers of the administration. But all faculty at the IITs, IIMs and other institutes listed in the schedule are paid salaries on a par with or higher than the “lowest grade of Group ‘A’ posts”.

So, the bill, if cleared by the Lok Sabha, will grant exemption to the institutes for all posts above the lowest faculty posts.

The bill grants exemption — to all government institutions — from quotas for appointments to be made for a period shorter than 45 days for emergency relief work.

It also exempts all posts higher than the lowest grade of Group ‘A’ scientific and technical posts that range from lab assistants to senior scientific and project officers.

Source: The Telegraph

Central funds herald uplift of tribal women

Bankura: In districts like Bankura, tribal women have remained uncared for since the pre-Independence era. Now, however, with the new initiatives of the Centre, and efforts taken by the state to help implement the Central plans, the scenario is changing for the better. The district has already spent Rs 3.12 crore to help elevate the status of the tribal women; the mission is to make them self-reliant in one year.

According to the 2001 census, tribal women make up 11.32 per cent of the total rural population in the district. In urban areas, however, their presence is less significant and is recorded at a mere 0.71 per cent. The condition of the tribal women, especially those in remote villages in Khatra sub-division, “has reached the worst and they are forced to live under male domination”, said Mrs Syed Sahidara Begum, secretary, Women’s Association for Rights & Development, an NGO in Bankura.

“The women do the maximum work in the tribal villages. They manage the domestic chores and also other work like collecting leaves from the forests for cattle and goats,” she added.

But with the recent efforts of those in power, the living conditions of tribal women are slowly but surely changing. Mrs Srimati Sardar and Mrs Ramoni Baske, residents of Satnala village in Khatra, were seen nursing a herd of goats. “We were BPL. Now we are APL. We feel proud of it,” said the housewives together, referring to their uplift from below the poverty line. Their sentiments are echoed by Mrs Chumki Tudu, a resident of Purnapani village in Ranibandh.

Women in similar happy and busy circumstances could be found in villages like Motgoda in Raipur; and Golokpal and Bohodadanga in Ranibandh. The women were given Central fund assistance under the scheme for self-reliance. The Tribal Welfare Development Corporation has joined hands to ensure the projects in the district are implemented properly. Altogether 23 blocks in Bankura have benefited out of the schemes.

At Motgoda village, 62 goats were distributed among the tribal women four years ago. The animals have helped the women become self-sufficient. “The women have started repaying the loan amount,” said Mr Dilip Ghosal, a TWDC executive. “Their performance is encouraging, and we have plans to extend the scheme.”

Source: The Stateman

Adivasi plea to keep hill outfit away

Alipurduar: The Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad has written to the chief minister, asking him not to give permission to the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to hold any public meeting in the Dooars.

The Adivasi outfit said it was determined to keep off the Morcha, based in the Darjeeling hills, from the region.

Birsha Tirki, the president of the state committee of the Parishad, said over the phone from Calcutta: “At 4pm today, we submitted the letter to the chief minister through the home secretary. We have requested Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee not to give permission to the Morcha to organise any public meeting in the Dooars. If they do, we will restrain them, which can trigger violence.”

Tirki said he expected the letter to reach Bhattacharjee before his meeting with the Morcha leaders in Writers’ Buildings started. He added that the Parishad was not against Morcha meetings.

“It is their democratic right to hold rallies and bring out processions. But we are against violence and the attempt of the hill party to include the Dooars in Gorkhaland, the new state that the outfit wants. Earlier, we had written to the chief secretary and the home secretary appealing to them to tell the Morcha to restrict its movement to the hills.”

“Yesterday, I had talked to B.L. Meena, the divisional commissioner of Jalpaiguri, and he told me that the administration would sit with us soon to discuss the issue. It would have been better if the chief minister had called us today to Writers.”

Normality returned to Banarhat, Malbazar and Nagrakata, the three areas that were witness to clashes last week. Shops, which had been shut for the past four days, opened shutters today. Attendance in schools and offices was high and there were public vehicles on the road.

Source: The Telegraph

Tripura gives land rights to tribal forest dwellers

Agartala: Septuagenarian Rabirung Rupini of Khamtingbari in Tripura’s West district will continue to live in forest but with a difference – she will own a piece of land there with all rights.

Rupini became the first beneficiary of Centre’s scheme of granting land rights to forest dwellers in the whole of North-east yesterday, when she received the documents from Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in a public gathering of tribals at Mandai, about 30 km from here.

She was one among the 35 recipients. Official sources said the government started distributing patta (ownership rights) to indigenous tribals living in forests as part of implementing “Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers (recognition of forest rights) Act 2005.

Long cherished dreams of the people living inside the forests of the country have been fulfilled after the enactment by the Centre, Sarkar said. Similar land rights should also be applicable for the non-tribals living in forests for a long time.

Altogether 126,000 tribal and forest dwellers had claimed land rights of which 22,000 claims were found valid and 11,500 have been settled.

Source: Assam Tribune

Adivasis withdraw bandh in Dooars

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is determined to make its Dooars Chalo Abhiyan a success, its chief Bimal Gurung announced in Gorubathan today, hinting that a large number of supporters were expected in Malbazar tomorrow flouting Section 144 that was in place in the subdivision.

On the other hand, the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad said it would fight tooth and nail to stop the Morcha from entering the Dooars.

“We are ready with sufficient force to prevent their entry,” said Rajesh Lakra, the secretary of the Terai-Dooars Committee of the Parishad, which withdrew its bandh this evening.

Manoj Verma, the superintendent of police of Jalpaiguri, said a huge force would be posted in Malbazar. “We are bringing forces from other districts and we will not allow the two groups to clash under any circumstance,” he added.

In neighbouring Darjeeling district, a company of CRPF is expected to arrive late in the evening. Rahul Srivastava, the superintendent of police, said in Siliguri. “We have come to know that we will get four companies of the CRPF shortly. But they will remain on standby because we have not received any instruction on their deployment,” he said.

The Morcha president, who addressed a public meeting in Gorubathan, 30km from Kalimpong, said: “We will hold a meeting in Malbazar tomorrow as part of the Dooars Abhiyan. Many of our supporters will be there.” The general secretary of the party, Roshan Giri, said in Darjeeling that a similar meeting would be held in Nagrakata on Tuesday to protest against the CPM-Adivasi pact against the Morcha.

In Kalimpong, the appearance of two posters advocating violence to achieve Gorkhaland created ripples in the hills.

The posters, plastered on the walls of two buildings near Damber Chowk, were signed by the Gorkha Liberation Army, an outfit unheard off till today. As news of the poster spread, members of the Morcha reached the spot and tore off both the posters.

Kumar Chamling, the media and publicity secretary of the Morcha’s Kalimpong unit, said the posters were pasted by mischief mongers to malign the image of the outfit. “The party will take action against those found guilty of such stupid act.”

One of the posters (translated from Nepali) reads: “The atrocities against the Gorkhas have exceeded its limits. In the 21st century, the Gorkha Liberation Army has embarked on the task of liberating our imprisoned mother with automatic weapons and not khukuri.” It ends by seeking public support.

The second poster said the GLA would create Gorkhaland by piercing the heart of Bengal with bullets. Similar posters were plastered in Kurseong also.

In 2006, the United Gorkha Revolutionary Army, headed by one Ajay Dahal, had announced its formation by pasting posters at Damber Chowk. It had also advocated an armed struggle to achieve Gorkhaland. However, after some of its members were arrested for killing a GNLF supporter, the outfit was heard no more.

The police said they were aware of the posters and investigation was on.

Source: The Telegraph

Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parisad clash, 50 injured, Strike in Darjeeling Hills

By Barun Roy

Malbazaar: 50 Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha and Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad supporters including 20 policemen were injured in a clash that sparked out today at Malbazaar suburb between Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha and Akhil Bharaitya Adivasi Vikash Parishad. The clash erupted when a Gorkha Janmukti Nari Morcha procession was halted by Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad supporters. Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad had called for a 24 hours strike today on the eve of a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha political rallytoday announced almost a month ago. According to preliminary reports from Malbazaar police fired 25 rounds of live ammunitions in the air besides scores of Tear Gas Canisters. The injureds were admitted at Gorubathan while an Adivasi youth who is said to have been greviously injured has been admitted at a nursing home in Siliguri.

The District Magistrate has clamped down IPC Section 144 in Dooars until further notice.

News of clash in Dooars quickly lead commerical enterprises downing their shutters and at around 12 noon Gorkha Janmukti Morcha officially announced for a shut down though it was not mentioned how long would the shut down last. Speaking to the Press, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha General Secretary Roshan Giri said the clash was the result of the conspiracy hatched by the State Government and the Communist Party of India Marxists who wants to break the solidarity between Advasis and the Gorkhas.

Speaking to Beacon Online, Prof. Sulabh Orion, an Adivasi academic presently associated with a reputed college in Kolkata said on phone, “It is very unfortunate that the West Bengal Government and the Communist Party of India Marxists have been successful in wedging the Adivasis and Gorkhas so that they could regain their political hegemony in North Bengal. However, it is even more unfortunate that the Adivasis and Gorkhas have played into the hands of the State Government and the CPIM by clashing with each other. I cannot understand what they are fighting each other for. The Adivasis and the Gorkhas are the most discriminated of the people in Bengal. I request to the leaders from both the sides to not play into the hands of the CPIM party and the State Government and instead try to accomodate the aspirations of each other and work together in trying to achieve the same.”

Tribals plan to stop Vedanta vehicles

Berhampur: Members of the Niyamgiri Bachao Samity (NBS) on Sunday held a meeting at Sakata under Muniguda block in Rayagada district to plan their future plans to oppose mining in the Niyamgiri hills in south Orissa.

Around 1,000 delegates from villages to be affected by proposed mining in the Niyamgiri hills from Lanjigarh block of Kalahandi district and Bisamkatak, Muniguda, Kalyansinghpur blocks of Rayagad district participated in the meeting. Most of them were members of Dongria Kondh community, one of the ancient tribes of the country.

The tribals decided to stop entry of vehicles and officials of both Government and Vendanta Alumina Limited (VAL) into the Niyamgiri area. “We have also vowed not to allow construction of new roads in the remote Niyamgiri area which will facilitate mining in the region at the cost of the environment,” said Dongria tribal leader Jitendra Jakesika. The NBS has decided to hold a large tribal rally at Muniguda in the second week of February as a show of strength against the proposed mining in Niyamgiri area.

This meeting was also attended by environmental activist, Praful Samantra, Samjawadi Janparishad leader Lingaraj Azad and CPI-ML (New Democracy) leader, Bhala Chandra Sarangi, who have extended support to the agitation.

The Niyamgiri hill range houses dense forests, wild animals with ample bio-diversity. As per the official records 7,987 primitive Dongria Kondh tribals live in this region. From this region emerge the Rushikulaya and Nagavali rivers of south Orissa. It may be noted that the VAL is setting up an alumina refinery at an estimated investment of over Rs. 4,000 crores in Orissa. The construction of refinery unit is complete.

This refinery is to depend on ores mined from Niyamgiri region. But the mining has been delayed due to court cases and protest by green activists

The legal stumbling blocks in the path of mining in the region have got removed. Yet the stiff opposition of the locals of around 104 tribal villages to be affected by this controversial mining project has prevented start of mining work. Since Nov 10 last year the tribals have not allowed the VAL officials to enter the region and start construction of wider road for movement of heavy vehicles needed for mining work.

Source: The Hindu

Blockade stops British company’s midnight entry into tribes' land

A blockade mounted by more than 50 protestors stopped British mining company Vedanta entering the land of the Dongria Kondh and other Kondh tribes under cover of darkness last night.

The FTSE 100 company plans to mine bauxite on the Dongria Kondh’s sacred mountain in the state of Orissa, laying waste to the forests they depend on for their survival.

Last night’s action follows high level meetings at the weekend between Vedanta’s billionaire chairman Anil Agarwal and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who backs the mine. After the meeting, Agarwal told journalists that mining would start ‘within a month or two’.

India’s Supreme Court has approved Vedanta’s plans, but the mine is yet to receive the environmental clearance required for it to go ahead.

The stand-off between local villagers and Vedanta’s bulldozers at the blockade site continues. Protestor Ajun Chandi, who has received a series of threatening phone calls from Vedanta, says, ‘You must let the whole world know what Vedanta is doing.’

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘Vedanta won't be able to hide its work by invading the Kondhs’ land at night. It doesn't even have official approval. Whether or not it gets it, the Dongria aren’t likely to agree to their homeland and most sacred site being destroyed. Vedanta is trying to intimidate the tribespeople. This is an appalling way for a major British company to behave, it isn't going to work and Vedanta must now expect international opposition to grow.’

Source: Survival International

Job scheme boost to Sabar families

By Antara Bose


Jamshedpur:: Gone are the days when the primitive tribes of Musabani block in East Singhbhum used to depend on hunting to earn their livelihood. Now, the Sabars, a backward tribe residing at Joblakocha in the block, are slowly embracing a civilised life.

After taking up farming, members of the 25 Sabar families of the area have agreed to work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) like other villagers of nearby areas.

As such, the Sabars have been deputed the task of building a well in the area. The villagers have been suffering a lot due to scarcity of drinking water in the hamlet.

Hence, construction of a well will not take care of water problems, but also help the Sabars earn money. Under the scheme, they will be entitled to a wage of Rs 92 per day on a weekly basis.

The block development officer (BDO) of Musabani, Manoj Kumar Ranjan, and a city-based non-government organisation, Socio-economic and Education Development Society, helped the Sabars bag the job.

“The scheme was earlier meant for the Santhals of the nearby area. However, at a meeting with the panchayat sevak last month, we convinced them to give the work to the Sabars as they are more backward than the Santhals. The block development officer also played a crucial role in getting the well transferred to the Sabar hamlet,” said M.N. Jha, a project officer of Socio-economic and Education Development Society.

“We had to face certain difficulties as even after the gram sabha meeting finalised everything, the Santhals had already started digging a well, a km from the Sabar hamlet. We had to request them to stop work,” said Jha.

The members of the 25 Sabar families will get their job cards under the NREGA scheme soon. The cards will help them get their weekly payments. .

Last year, the same Sabar families had taken up farming and harvested crops such as ladies finger, bottle gourd, brinjal and so on. They made a net profit of Rs 10,886 by selling their produce at the nearby market.

“We really needed a well in our locality as there is no proper provision of drinking water here. Last year, we made a decent profit from farming. I hope work under NREGA scheme will help further develop the tribe,” said Raju Sabar of Joblakocha.

Source: The Telegraph

Tribals demand implementation of Forest Rights Act

Salem: Members of the Thamizhaga Adivasi Amaippugalin Kootamaippu (TAAK) have urged the Tamil Nadu Government to implement the Forest Rights Act 2006 uniformly.

The members claimed that Union Government had already passed the act while many states, including Tamil Nadu, were showing little interest to implement the same.

A few had started implementing in a piecemeal approach.

They said that in Tamil Nadu while the district administrations of Tiruvannamalai, Namakkal, Dindigul and Coimbatore had sought claim petitions from village committees to identify the rights of tribals and forest dwellers under the provisions of the act, Erode, Salem, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts were yet to initiate the process.

They said that Salem district where tribals are living in more numbers was yet to initiate any action in this regard. This attitude would deprive them of the rights enshrined in the act.

Hence, the problems concerning Suriyur where the forest officials forcefully evicted the tribals and forest dwellers, took place due to this. The district administrations, they demanded, must distribute pattas to those who were raising crops in wastelands in hills for many years. Salem must take steps to issue pattas immediately. The district administrations of Namakkal and Tiruvannamalai had already started receiving applications from the concerned in this regard, they claimed. They also urged that Government to distribute free two-acre land to hill dwellers.

P. Jegannathan presided over the agitation in which tribals from Salem and adjoining districts took part.

Source: The Hindu

Tribals hold rally against Tata Steel

Tribals on Friday took out separate rallies in Orissa’s Kalinganagar area, both in support of the Tata Steel project and against it, to mark the third anniversary of killing of 14 tribals in police firing.

According to official sources, over 2,200 tribals staged demonstration against the displacement of people because of the projects of Tata Steel as well as other industrial houses at Kalinganagar.

Braving arrest threat by the district administration, the tribals from Orissa and other states participated in the rally from the firing spot in Champakoila village to the Veer Bhumi in Ambagadia, where the 14 firing victims had been cremated.

The agitators represented groups like CPI (ML)-New, All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha, CPI ML (Liberation), CPI (M), Adivasi Ekata Manch and some frontline organisations of the Naxalites. After reaching the Veer Bhumi, the participants of the rally offered tributes to the victims. Earlier in the day, the family members and relatives of the firing victims offered flowers and oil in a ritual on the 14 memory pillars erected at the mass cremation ground two years back.

The rally ended with a protest meeting in which a declaration was adopted, pledging support to the agitation in Kalinganagar. The representatives of various organisations who were opposing Posco’s steel plant and captive port project in Jagatsinghpur district, Vedanta alumina’s refinery project at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district and Arcelor-Mittal’s steel project in Keonjhar participated in the meeting.

About 15 platoons of armed police were deployed to maintain law and order, but they mostly kept themselves away from the meeting venue.

In a parallel development, about 1,200 displaced tribals held a meeting at the Tata rehabilitation site at Sansailo and organised a motorcycle rally in favour of industrialisation.

Source: Business Standard

Entrust forest conservation to Tribals

Bhubaneshwar: Admitting that Orissa still remains backward in the national education scenario, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh Wednesday said at least 15 or 16 skill-based polytechnics would come to the State out of 1,000 planned for the entire country to enhance ‘employability factor’ of the unemployed youth.

On Central universities and institutes for the State, he said that they would be set up as promised in the current five-year plan.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day international seminar ‘Myths and superstition vis-a-vis tribal society’ at city-based Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), he said though we often term the beliefs of the primitive people as superstitions, they, in other own way, help in conserving nature as tribals ‘worship’ nature.

Disapproving the notion that tribals destroy forests, Singh said, rather, they help in conserving forest resources including the wildlife. ‘‘As they have strong faith in nature’s components they never think of harming them,’’ he pointed out adding rather in the name of progress others are destroying the natural wealth.

Calling for entrusting the responsibility of protecting forest wealth, including wildlife, to the native tribals in the country, Arjun Singh said this could be more effective as the primitive people would work better than the traditional forest guards and other forces working for the physical upkeep of the forest wealth.

Keeping aside the ‘tribal and nontribal issue’ in enacting the Tribal Land Rights Act, Singh said there would be no conflict among the tribals while getting their rights over their ancestral lands.

He also urged more social workers to come to the field of education so that the traditionally neglected people would change their lives with education and exposure.

Later, talking to mediapersons on the tie-up between Congress and National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Minister said a ‘formula is being worked out’. He declined comment on the controversial remarks on the Mumbai terror attacks.

Among others, SC/ST Development Minister CP Majhi, MP Prasanna Patsani and founder of KIIT and KISS A Samanta and president Saswati Bal spoke.

The HRD Minister also released two books — ‘Adivasi Parampara and Sanskruti’ (in Oriya) and ‘Indigenous people of Orissa’.

Source: Express News Service