"Forcible" tribal eviction: Central India village draws international attention following NGO representation

Government building in Amravan

By A Representative
A small village of about 200 in Central India, a majority of whose residents is dependent on mining as the main source of livelihood, is all set to become a major focal point, nationally and internationally. Reason: Allegations of refusal of the Madhya Pradesh government to protect them from forcible eviction from their land.
Earning about Rs 100 to 200 per day, and belonging to Amravan village of Panna district, representations have been made against their forcible eviction to powerful international NGO Asia Indigenous People's Pact, Thailand; Victoria Tauli Corpuz, special rapporteur, UN High Commission for Human Rights; Satyanaryan Mohanty, CEO, Natonal Human Rights Commission; PL Punia, chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; and Jual Oram, minister for tribal affairs, Government of India, among others.
The representation appeals for “urgent intervention” in the present crisis in Umaravan, whose residents are being “brutally evicted without the implementation of any proper rehabilitation process or settlement of rights”.
According to the representation, “The affected families belong to the Gond tribe who are marginal farmers and live on forest produce and cultivation. The village received legal notices from the district collector in February 2015 to evict them from the village for expansion of the Panna Tiger Reserve and with an offer of cash compensation. No written or accurate information regarding settlement of rights and alternate livelihoods was provided to the affected families.”
“Majority of the families are illiterate and do not understand any governance procedures”, the representation says, adding, “They have been intimidated and harassed by the district administration and wildlife officials and live in constant fear. They were verbally promised various rehabilitation measures and coerced into giving their consent.”

Officials read out eviction notice to villagers

The representation says, “Even when the aggrieved tribal families raised several objections, cash compensation was forcefully deposited into their bank accounts but most of the tribal families who are residing in the village have not taken the amount. The village had earlier put up claims under Forest Rights Act for settlement of individual and community forest rights. Some of the families also received title deeds and others are still awaiting settlement.”
The representation further says, “The district administration has not bothered to settle their rights as mandated in the Forest Rights Act Section 2d, 2c and 4(1). Section 2d includes settlement of rights in sanctuaries and national park areas. There is a writ petition filed in the High Court of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, by the affected families of Umravan and the local NGO, Prithvi Trust.”
Pointing out that the case is posted for hearing on September 28, 2015, the representation says, “In spite of this the local police and forest officials descended on the village on Saturday, September 19, 2015, and have created panic by threatening the villagers that they will be forcefully evicted in the next few days if they do not vacate the village immediately.”
“This is a blatant violation of the rights of scheduled tribes, and of their constitutional and human rights, as well as blatant violation of the Forest Rights Act”, the representation insists, adding, “Therefore, we appeal to you to intervene and protect the rights of the adivasis in this crisis.”

Activists protest government move

It concludes, “Besides, as the legal case is under process we request you to give directions to the state authorities to follow due legal procedures and consider the long term sustainability of tribal people who are being thrown out unceremoniously without any rehabilitation or sustainable alternatives.”
Those who have signed the representation include Bhanumathi Kalluri, Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women and Children, Vijayawada; Ashok Shrimali, general secretary, Mines, Minerals and People, and Setu Centre for Knowledge and Action, Ahmedabad; Snehalata Nath, director, Keystone Foundation, Nilgiris district, Tamilnadu; Yousufbeg, Prithvi Trust, Panna district, Madhya Pradesh; Ravi Rebbapragada, Samata, Visakhapatnam, among others.
Giving this information, Shrimali told me that he personally met Mansukh Vasava, MP from Gujarat and India's minister of state for tribal affairs at Rajpipla, telling him about the havoc created by forcible eviction. "Vasava told me that he would ensure no such eviction takes place and tribal rights are not violated", Shrimali said.
A highly neglected village, the state officialdom does not even care to provide jobs to the villagers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, say reports. Worse, the village is devoid of any developmental work for the last three years. There is no ration shop in the village – if they want to buy ration from the public distribution system, they must go six kilometres away.
The situation is such that, a large number of workers, who are involved in mining, suffer from the deadly silicosis disease, but there is no one to treat them. They begin working at the age of 14 or 15, but live for another 20 years before they become victims of the disease.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

UP tribal woman human rights defender Sokalo released on bail

By A Representative After almost five months in jail, Adivasi human rights defender and forest worker Sokalo Gond has been finally released on bail.Despite being granted bail on October 4, technical and procedural issues kept Sokalo behind bars until November 1. The Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) and the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), which are backing Sokalo, called it a "major victory." Sokalo's release follows the earlier releases of Kismatiya and Sukhdev Gond in September. "All three forest workers and human rights defenders were illegally incarcerated under false charges, in what is the State's way of punishing those who are active in their fight for the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (2006)", said a CJP statement.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra* The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

'Restructuring' Sahitya Akademi: Is the ‘Gujarat model’ reaching Delhi?

By Prakash N. Shah* A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards .

Search This Blog