A response to “A Rational Taxation System of Bidis and Cigarettes to Reduce Smoking Deaths in India” (EPW, 15 October 2011). It is important to first have better information on the production of tendu leaves and bidis, and then to correct the prices of inputs (including wages) if tax policies are to have a salutary impact on bidi smoking.
Not only are the Forest Rights Act and the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act routinely violated in Chhattisgarh, the adivasis are also short-changed on legislative representation and reservations in government jobs. As the state cedes land to capital while reducing the adivasis to an ornamental presence, there is increasing assertion of adivasi identity, born out of class predicaments and experiences of displacement as much as notions of indigeneity.
The Union government has cleared an external loan to finance part of the programme launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in left wing extremism-affected villages.
The Centre has decided to roll out a revised anti-Naxal action plan for states battling Left-wing extremism, marking a shift from the bullet approach towards building a holistic plan to protect the
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has pointed to “operational” shortcomings in the government’s efforts to tackle the decades-old Maoist insurgency through developmental work and urged great
Bhubaneswar: Receiving flak from the home ministry on the tardy utilisation of funds, the Odisha government has decided to constitute a state-level committee for regular monitoring of the implement
