TRIBALS - 2012 - Indian Social Institute

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of that region. We will be launching a nutrition literacy movement soon," said Ajay Parida, executive director, MSSRF.Scientists, government representatives, nutritionists, academicians, technical managers and NGOs from various states presented about 27 papers. Mahtab Bamji, emeritus scientist, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, said,"We have to improve homestead production in each tribal hamlet to improve the nutritional level of tribals. We have to educate them in this direction." (Times of India 26/5/12) Govt to amend forest Act for tribal rights (6) NEW DELHI: The tribal affairs ministry is moving fast to amend the Forest Rights Act and bring about changes in rules that would make it easier for traditional forest dwellers to get their rightful claim over forest lands and more difficult for the industry to use the green patches without the former's nod. The move comes with the central government recording serious flaws in the implementation of the Act across the country. As a precursor to the expected changes, tribal affairs minister Kishore Chandra Deo has written to CMs pointing out how the implementation of what was UPA-1's flagship scheme had failed, asking them to remove the shortcomings. The step had been pending for long, with the NAC too recommending altering the rules and regulations to overcome state prejudices against handing back lands to tribals and other traditional forest dwellers. After Deo took over the tribal affairs ministry, it was expected that the changes would come through quickly but the minister, who had earlier been the key Congress general secretary advocating the passage of the Act, faced an uphill battle against his bureaucracy, which had also opposed the NAC recommendations. A shuffle of the top bureaucracy within the ministry saw the opposition against changes in the FRA dwindle and Deo has now agreed to work the NAC recommendations into the law. The changes in implementation are expected to come at three levels. The ministry is expected to use its powers under the Act to pass mandatory advisories, amend existing rules as well as go to Parliament for amendments where required. Deo's letter to CMs is the first indication of what is in the works. He has said that states have not adhered to rules and tribals still face harassment, threats of eviction and forced relocation in violation of the Act. He has asked for strict adherence to the rule that denies industry the right to forest patches unless affected village councils accept it through a resolution. "Gram sabha meetings... for critical decisions such as diversion of forest land, should be video taped and videos made publicly available. This will ensure transparency and reduce manipulation and dispute," Deo wrote. (Times of India 28/5/12) 98 tribal healers given Rs 10,000 each as grant (6) KOZHIKODE: A Pradeep Kumar, MLA, inaugurated the distribution of Rs 10,000 each to 98 selected tribal healers for cultivating herbal medicinal plants in their courtyards, here on Thursday. The money can also be used for improving facilities at their homes to provide better medical care to their patients. This forms the initial phase of a state-level financial aid distribution scheme for welfare of tribal healers launched by the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS). All together 120 tribal healers have been selected as beneficiaries in the first phase of the project. The remaining 22 will be given the money at a function to be organized soon, KIRTADS officials said. The list of beneficiaries was prepared by an expert panel led by N Viswanathan Nair, president, Indian Indigenous People Service Society. They were chosen taking into account the exclusiveness of their methods of treatment, as well as their financial situation, the officials said. The tribal healers who received the grant are from Kottayam, Idukki, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasaragod, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Palakkad districts. Nine out of the 120 are women. Apart from the 120 selected, 80 more have been identified by the expert panel. They would be provided aid in the second phase of the project, said P V Mini, deputy director, KIRTADS. KIRTADS, with the help of the expert panel, has also prepared a directory of tribal healers in the state. The SC and ST Welfare Department will use this information to extend welfare schemes to more people. (Times of India 1/6/12) Jarawa region to have buffer zone (6) New Delhi, June 1, 2012: Five months after two British newspapers released a controversial video film showing scantily clad Jarawa tribal women dancing for tourists in return for food and money, the government finally acted on Thursday: the Union Cabinet approved the promulgation of a law that brings into effect a buffer zone in the 5 km radius around the Jarawa tribal settlements in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and provides for imprisonment up to seven years for those violating government norms for this area. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said the decision to promulgate the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal tribes) Amendment Regulation 2012 has been taken under Article 240 of the Constitution, which empowers the President to take such measures in case of Union Territories. “This regulation will cover the entire Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Tourist
establishments will be prohibited and other commercial establishments will be regulated in the buffer zone, which will protect the aboriginal tribes from undesirable outside influences.” The law provides for tough penal provisions to deter unauthorised entry, photography, videography, hunting, use of alcohol, inflammable material or biological germs, or even advertisements to attract tourists in the buffer zone. Any violation can attract a prison sentence of three to seven years and a fine up to Rs. 10,000. An earlier attempt by the Andaman Union Territory administration to prohibit all commercial and tourist activities, through a notification on October 30, 2007, within a designated buffer zone was quashed by the Calcutta High Court on the grounds that the principal Regulation only permitted such notifications for “reserved areas.” A Special Leave Petition, challenging this, was subsequently filed in the Supreme Court, and it is in the pendency of this SLP that the Union Cabinet, using Article 240, has approved the promulgation of a law that will create a buffer zone. Official sources said this meant that the lacuna in the regulation that saw the Calcutta High Court quash the earlier notification has now been addressed: it was tantamount to a policy change. The government's decision on Thursday follows the intervention by the Sonia Gandhiheaded National Advisory Council (NAC) that had mooted an amendment to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulations, 1956. A larger buffer zone, it was felt, would mean increased space for tribals, while preventing outsiders from intruding on their privacy. Simultaneously, the NAC has also been working on drafting a comprehensive policy for the protection and preservation of primitive tribal groups (PTGs), including the Jarawas in the Andamans. In India, about 75 tribal communities have been classified as PTGs, who are the poorest among those listed as Scheduled Tribes: they are spread across 17 States and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The NAC, flagging the issue in 2006, had reported on the sexual abuse of Jarawa women and recommended policy interventions to ensure preservation and privacy of the tribe. Indeed, an NAC experts' sub-group had suggested eventual closure of the part of the Andaman Trunk Road that passes through the Jarawa Reserve. Meanwhile, the debate on the Jarawas continues – whether they should continue to exist in their pristine habitat, cut off from the mainstream, or whether they should be “empowered” through interventions, especially relating to health and education. (The Hindu 1/6/12) Is MSP for 13 minor forest produce the next MGNREGS? (6) NEW DELHI, June 1, 2012: The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA)'s plan to introduce a Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism for 13 items of minor forest produce (MFP) has been approved by the Planning Commission. Sources in the Ministry told The Hindu that a detailed financial proposal would be sent to the Expenditure Finance Committee of the Finance Ministry by June 7 after which it would go to the Cabinet. Union Minister Kishore Chandra Deo, who is piloting the scheme, would like a MSP Commission to be set up by January 2013, the sources said. The plan to introduce MSP for minor forest produce is being described in government circles as the next MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) as it has the potential to transform the lives of 100 million forest dwellers, a majority of whom are tribals and whose livelihoods depend on the collection and marketing of MFPs. The proposal, the sources said, had reached this stage after a great deal of resistance from sections of the bureaucracy, especially those in the Forest Departments of various States, and after two committees, one headed by agricultural economist T. Haque and another by Planning Commission member-secretary Sudha Pillai, gave their reports on the issue. MFP have significant social and economic value for tribal communities as they not only provide essential food, medicines and other consumption items but also cash income. The estimated value of the 13 major MFPs at the first purchase point is worth about Rs. 3600 crore annually, of which tendu and bamboo alone account for Rs. 2000 crore, according to the Haque Report. The MFPs that will be covered by the scheme will be tendu, bamboo, mahua flower, mahua seeds, sal leaves, sal seeds, lac, chironji, wild honey, myrobalan, tamarind, gums and karanj. The scheme, a Ministry document says, will help provide better prices to the MFP gatherers, who now receive a pittance, exploited as they are by local traders and other vested interests; it will also ensure sustainable harvesting of MFPs. The proposed MFP Commission will be an autonomous body under the MoTA. The scheme envisages undertaking procurement and marketing operations at pre-fixed MSP for selected MFP by designated State agencies and providing financial assistance to the States for these operations and subsidies if necessary. The Commission will link the MSP to minimum wages paid under the NREGS, transportation cost for the tribals to push the produce in the market, value addition to the produce and local market prices. The MSP of each item would be reviewed annually. The MoTA, the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India and State institutions will be strengthened suitably to implement the scheme. (The Hindu 1/6/12) Tribals can help in forest conservation: Expert (6) COIMBATORE: Tribals living in the forests must not be compelled to leave their abode, AJT John Singh,
Page 1 and 2: TRIBALS - 2012 January to December
Page 3 and 4: approaching strangers. Seeing them
Page 5 and 6: Three tribal girls commit suicide i
Page 7 and 8: Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo, the
Page 9 and 10: Tribal women's rape: Madras HC flay
Page 11 and 12: eing retained in school and also ac
Page 13 and 14: y tour operators on different tribe
Page 15 and 16: community which enjoy the ST status
Page 17 and 18: from Maoist camps they claim to hav
Page 19 and 20: Tribal bodies condemn AR assault on
Page 21 and 22: estate sector, besides suppliers of
Page 23 and 24: spot and arrested the miscreants. A
Page 25 and 26: propaganda of the state being 'agai
Page 27 and 28: the displaced tribals by providing
Page 29 and 30: School in Balangir, who was alleged
Page 31 and 32: Congress has said it would launch a
Page 33 and 34: government and the mediators broadl
Page 35 and 36: was enacted. I have visited most Pe
Page 37 and 38: initiatives laid out by the atrocit
Page 39 and 40: Collector should not be used as a b
Page 41 and 42: personalities from the tribal commu
Page 43 and 44: “When I asked a local tribal in B
Page 45 and 46: The 25 acres of land allotted to th
Page 47: 23/5/12) 500 landless tribal famili
Page 51 and 52: students opted for engineering, oth
Page 53 and 54: the tribals and their rights, inclu
Page 55 and 56: Gorkhas as they constituted majorit
Page 57 and 58: minister said lack of awareness amo
Page 59 and 60: New Delhi, July 11: The Centre is p
Page 61 and 62: 19-year-old girl, had come to the c
Page 63 and 64: Raisina Hill, former Lok Sabha Spea
Page 65 and 66: Munda, Santhali, Kissan, Oraon, Kuv
Page 67 and 68: government has further decided to e
Page 69 and 70: certificate verification will be ma
Page 71 and 72: Devendranagar: As part of its effor
Page 73 and 74: wood theft and other minor criminal
Page 75 and 76: waterfall to make it suitable for c
Page 77 and 78: failure of the government to submit
Page 79 and 80: Govt asks India Inc to adopt Dalit
Page 81 and 82: evaluate the progress that has take
Page 83 and 84: stalling of the construction work.
Page 85 and 86: GUMLA: Setting up a central univers
Page 87 and 88: has been planned to take the member
Page 89 and 90: settled as provided in the act by N
Page 91 and 92: have not received their salary sinc
Page 93 and 94: out of bauxite ore. NSS activists d
Page 95 and 96: meeting of the recently formed Nilg
Page 97 and 98: for the primitive tribes in the reg

TRIBALS - 2012 - Indian Social Institute

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