Jamguda (Kalahandi): Transit permit to villagers to procure and sell forest resources will create a revolution in the country as it is an important tool to empower tribal communities, stressed Unio

Kalahandi: The Centre would 'fight' Naxalites through welfare and empowerment schemes and protect the tribals from being used as shields by the ultras, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh said on Sunday.

"In the name of protecting forest dwellers, Maoists have created an atmosphere of fear (in society). Our fight against the rebels is continuing. Through schemes for tribal welfare and women empowerment, with a strong political willpower, we will defeat their designs," he told a meeting of Adivasi Adhikar Samavesa at Narla in Odisha's Kalahandi district.

In a major step to empower forest dwellers, Jamguda in the tribal dominated Kalahandi district on Sunday became the first village in Orissa and second in the country to exercise its community right

Tribal development must for curbing Naxal growth, says Jairam Ramesh

For the residents of this tiny non-descript village in Odisha’s Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region, it was a rare celebratory occasion on Sunday when they got back the rights that had been snatched away by the British rulers nearly a century ago. The official transit passbook for cultivation and harvest of bamboo was handed over to the Jamguda Gram Sabha by Orissa forest officials. Union Rural Development and Tribal Affairs Ministers Jairam Ramesh and Kishore Chandra Deo and Odisha Revenue minister Surjya Narayan Patra attended a Tribal Rights festival organised by the Gram Sabha to mark the event.

Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS), an outfit of tribals agitating against the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district, on Tuesday sought Congress vice-president

It is violative of fundamental rights of Dongria Kondh tribals, Forest Rights Act

Justifying the cancellation of the environmental clearance granted to Vedanta for the Lanjigarh Bauxite mining project in Odisha, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on Friday said that forest land cannot be diverted under the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

With the availability of bauxite out of sight, even two months after it shut down its Lanjigarh alumina refinery, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) has urged the Odisha government to expedite processing of the applications of state-controlled Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for bauxite mining leases.

“We have requested the state government to expedite processing of OMC’s pending applications, especially for those bauxite leases that fall in non-forest areas. These applications are either at the PL (prospecting licence) or ML (mining lease) stage.

PSU firm prefers to export the product board to take up the matter in its next meeting

After its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh was shut due to lack of bauxite, now operations at Vedanta’s aluminium smelter in Odisha have been hit by shortage of alumina. Time and again, Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) has asked National Aluminium Company Limited ( Nalco), which has surplus alumina, to sell it the commodity at a premium, but in vain. B L Bagra, director (finance) of Nalco, confirmed VAL had offered to pay a premium over Nalco’s export price. However, he added the company’s strategy was to export alumina. Others said Nalco’s move was triggered by the company’s reluctance to encourage competition. Nalco and VAL are competitors; both manufacture and sell aluminium.

‘Cos, both PSUs & private, have neither operated in an environmentally sustainable manner, nor socially beneficial manner’

“Mining only leads to greater poverty,” Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of Rural Development explained to the tribals of Lanjigarh, Odisha at the foothills of the Niyamgiri hills. This is the union minister's first visit to the naxal-affected Kalahandi district, a political tinderbox, where tribal interests are ranged against big corporates. Mr Ramesh insisted his visit was part of his agenda to visit all naxal affected districts and fight extremism with increased rural development.

Tells VAL to look for bauxite beyond Niyamgiri for its refinery

Union Minister for Rural Development, Jayaram Ramesh on Sunday announced a package worth Rs 300-crore envisaging construction of houses and roads for the Dongaria and Kutia Kandhas, a primitive tribes group (PTG), living at the foot-hill of Odisha’s bauxite rich Niyamgiri mountain in Kalahandi district. The package includes Rs 200-core for construction of 2100 houses under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and laying of rural roads to all villages with a population of 250 and more in Kalahandi district with an outlay of Rs 100 crore under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).