Though Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers Act 2006 came into existence two to three years ago, the availability of basic facilities for the tribals living in Kodagu are still a mirage.

Development is yet to reach the Adivasis living in the Scheduled Tribe colony here, along the Kodagu-Kerala border, as they do not have access to basic amenities such as drinking water, proper shelter and food.

Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Sunday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to review the mega steel project awarded to South Korean steel giant Posco in Orissa and urged him to immediately withdraw the environmental clearance accorded to the project in light of the continued violence and atrocities against the local population.

ANAND S.T. DAS
MOHANPUR (GAYA, BIHAR

RASHME SEHGAL
NEW DELHI

A group of five civil servants who received the Prime Minister award for excellence in civil administration from Madhya Pradesh (2009-10) could well provide states like Chattisgarh and Jharkhand an answer on how to tackle the problem of Naxalism.

THE environment ministry has reconstituted the joint committee set up with the ministry of tribal affairs to assess the impact of Forest Rights Act on sustainable management of forest resources.

Initially constituted in February, the joint committee and its terms of reference had to be reworked given protests by civil society organisations and activists.

The government has constituted a joint committee of the ministries of Environment & forest and Tribal affairs to study the implementation of the Forest Right Act, 2006 and suggest necessary policy changes needed in the future management of the forestry sector. The committee aims to define the role of panchayati raj institutions such as the Gram Sabhas in forest conservation and regeneration.