Following the Supreme Court judgment over bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills in Orissa last month, Union tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo has written to Governor SC Jamir to invoke his

In its April 18 order, SC had directed the Odisha govt to conduct Gram Sabhas at Niyamgiri within three months to seek the mandate of the locals

The Odisha government today said it would seek six more weeks from the Supreme Court (SC) to conduct Gram Sabhas to decide the fate of bauxite mining at the ecologically sensitive Niyamgiri hills.

The refinery, which since inception has run on bauxite obtained from external sources, has been shut since Dec 5 last year for the want of raw material

The Odisha law department will submit its views on the Supreme Court (SC) order on Niyamgiri bauxite mining in 2-3 days, paving the way for the government to hold gram sabhas that will decide if mining activity can take place there.

In a follow up to the Supreme Court order empowering the village committees (palli sabha) to decide the fate of bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri hills, the Union ministry of tribal affairs (MoTA) has asked the Odisha government to take necessary steps to create awareness about holding of palli sabhas.

The ministry has asked the state SC and ST department to issue advertisements in local newspapers informing all tribals and traditional forest dwellers in Kalahandi and Raygada districts to file claims of religious and cultural rights, along with the individual and community rights under the Forest Right Act.

With the clock ticking, the tribal affairs ministry has set the ball rolling for village assemblies or gram sabhas to decide on allowing Vedanta to source bauxite from the Niyamgiri hills, consider

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Vedanta Group's bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa will have to get the gram sabha's clearance on whether it affects the cultural a

Funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) are now being put to a strange use - building walls around government forests!

In a letter addressed to chief ministers of states, Tribal Affairs Minister KC Deo has lamented the development saying it’s ironic how MNREGA funds were being used in states to build “high stone walls around government forests” thereby denying tribals and traditional forest dwellers access to their own land and produce.

Governors can repeal or amend any law when peace is disturbed: Kishore Chandra Deo

Unrelenting in his battle against destruction of tribal habitations for exploitation of forestland and resources, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs V. Kishore Chandra Deo has written letters to Governors of various States asking them to cancel mining leases in the Agency areas.
Noting with alarm the growth of extremism in Schedule V areas, the Union Minister said that this was due to the neglect of these areas by the people in power, who are mostly from urban areas.

The government does it purely on the strength of a certificate issued by the district administration

Even as the recent affidavit submitted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) before the Supreme Court in the Vedanta case has caused dismay among tribal communities and activists for the dilution of its stand on diverting forest lands of tribal communities, the Ministry has gone a step further and allowed diversion of forest land in Himachal Pradesh purely on the strength of a certificate issued by the district administration.