In the freezing winter of 2009, a few communities of the Baiga tribe in Mungeli and Bilaspur districts of Chhattisgarh were evicted from their homes inside the forest and forced into an open area some distance away. One person among them died due to lack of access to food and shelter. The state forest department’s idea of […]
The Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi recently intervened and compelled the Himachal Pradesh government to withdraw its appeal filed against National Green Tribunal (NGT) judgment mandating recognition of forest rights of tribal farmers under the Forest Right Act. Despite that, the state government launched a drive to clear ‘encroachments out of the forests’ under the garb […]
The Himachal Government has started the drive to evict Schedule Tribes and OTFDs from forest land under the garb of Himachal Pradesh (HP) High Court order as stated under. The hon’ble High Court of HP ordered on dated 18-10-2016 in CWPIL No.17/2014 a/w CWP No.3141/2015, COPC No.161/2012 and CWPIL No.9/2015 to remove encroachment on forest […]
On July 25, around 2,000 farmers gathered in Himachal Pradesh’s remote tribal district of Kinnaur to highlight the threat looming over their land, forests and livelihoods. Against the background of green hills, they thundered chants as local leaders gave rousing speeches. When the assembly dispersed, the farmers were still unsure if they had been heard, […]
A radical act was passed in the Parliament in 2006 which promised to undo the “historical injustice” that was committed on India’s forest dwellers by the non-recognition of their rights on the country’s forests. Himachal Pradesh is undermining this legislation. On April 6, 2015 the Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered the removal of encroachments on […]