Question raised in Rajya Sabha on monitoring implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006, 25/02/2015.

India’s indigenous Adivasi tribes are among the most disadvantaged people south of the Himalayan mountains. To improve their lot, some have begun to set up community-based organisations.

Birbhum is the latest minefield where Adivasi lives are at stake

THE FIRST time Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met Rabin Soren was five years ago; the West Bengal chief minister gave the 23-yearold his diploma for completing a government-run course in mass communication. The second meeting was on 9 July this year, when Soren was part of a 17-member delegation of Santhal Adivasi leaders.

Over the past few years, the West Bengal government and its law enforcement agencies used repression against the tribals in Lalgarh on the pretext of acting against the Maoists. This resulted in a genuine resistance movement since November 2008, which has reacted not only to state repression, but had also taken matters of livelihood and development into their own hands.

The political movement that came up from among the people of Lalgarh in November 2008 cried out for help and support from the civil and democratic society

Lalgarh poses questions that the two main streams of the Left in India have to answer. (Editorial)

Investigations were carried out in 26 sacred groves of the district of Bankura of West Bengal during 2006 to 2007. 114 plant species were recorded from those groves including 102 dicots and 12 monocots. The major tribal groups in those areas are Santals and Koramudis; others are Bedias and Mahalis. Main festival of Santals is 'Sarul' under the canopy of Shorea robusta.

http://wesanthals.tripod.com/ The Santhals are amongst the better studied tribal communities in the country. In fact, the first attempt to study Santhali culture was made in colonial times by some Christian missionaries. The Norwegian-born missionary Paul Olaf Bodding wrote the first grammar for the Santhal community in the early 20th century. The community uses a script invented just 80

The dying art of the Santhal craftsman miniature Chadar Badar wooden puppets, tucked into their thatched roof in Dumka, Bihar, caught the eye of photojournalist and filmmaker Ravi Kant Dwivedi. In

After a gap of more than 30 years, Santhal tribals recently invoked an age old practice of meting out punishment to a sex offender

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