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Samata
undertakes research studies and prepares reports, action alerts,
impact assessment case studies, situation analysis reports, campaign
documents and policy documents on issues relating to tribal people
in scheduled areas. Focus areas are mining and environmental issues,
human rights, rural development, gender issues, and legal and policy
implementation.
Andhra Pradesh Community Forest
Management Project - A preliminary independent evaluation of a World Bank forestry project
by Forest Peoples Programme & Samata - May 2005
This report summarises some key findings of a preliminary NGO and community
evaluation of an ongoing Community Forest Management (CFM) Project in Andhra
Pradesh. The Project, which is funded by a loan of US$ 108 million from the World
Bank, has been under implementation since 2002 and is described by the Bank as a
“Community Driven” intervention that aims to reduce poverty and “empower”
communities to take autonomous decisions regarding forest management on lands
assigned to existing village forest protection committees - Vana Samrakshana
Samithi (VSS). Many of the 5000 VSS involved in the CFM project were established
under a previous controversial Bank-assisted JFM Project (1994-2000), which was
heavily criticised for involving forced evictions of tribal people who received little or
no compensation. Some of the main findings of the assessment are.....more
Indigenous and tribal communities, biodiversity conservation and the Global Environment Facility in India
General overview and a case study of people’s perspectives of the India Ecodevelopment Project - The remit of the study is to undertake a summary review of the GEF portfolio in India and to examine briefly the impacts of the GEF’s Biodiversity-related projects on tribal and local communities, with a particular focus on the India Ecodevelopment Project funded by the Global Environment Facility and the World Bank. The study was undertaken by the Samata team in January - February 24 by doing an overview of the GEF projects in the seven national parks in India and visiting two parks for detailed case studies...more
Samata
Annual Report - April 2004 - March 2005:
Since 1997 Samata has been working as an advocacy organization to develop a strong support and lobby platform for Adivasi rights at the state and national levels and to make visible the assertion of Adivasi rights over natural resources, human dignity and development needs....
Samata activities in the last financial year ....more
Adivasis
in the Eastern Ghats Fundamental Issues at the Close of the Millenium
in the Era of Globalisation:
Several Adivasi communities or indigenous people are spread over the Eastern Ghats across the southern and eastern region of the Indian sub-continent. The macro economic and political policies of the state with their active promotion of globalisation, have driven the adivasi people to the brink of survival. The effects of globalisation have had far reaching consequences in the Eastern Ghats, and some of the crucial issues with respect to this region can be analysed as
......more
Balco
Judgement - Balco Employees Union Vs Union of India and ors
It was contended on behalf of the State of Chattisgarh that the land on which industry has been set up was originally tribal land. The said land could have been acquired and used by public sector undertaking but the tribal land could not be transferred to a non-tribal. Once majority shares in Balco were transferred to a non-tribal company, the prohibition contained against the transfer of tribal land came into operation. Relevant Portion of the Judgement Pertaining to the Samata Case....more
Forest Management Issues in East Godavari - A Case Study of
Pedda Mallapurm - Ravi R Pragada
The paper is presented in three parts. The 1st part gives a description of the traditional system and how its distinct traits ensured the protection of the ecosystem. The 2nd part explains the break up of the traditional systems under pressure from the colonial state, commercialization and inflow of non-tribal/plainsman with different pattern of behaviour. The 3rd part poses issues relating to the protection of ecosystems under the changing conditions...more
Gender and Environment: A Campaign for Women’s Rights
It has been accepted as an undisputed fact that women, rural and tribal, have a very intimate and symbiotic relationship with the ecology around them as they are untenably linked to the natural resources. In India, people adversely affected by development have been mainly dalits and tribals and among them women, who suffer even severe forms of discrimination. Repeated displacement, migration and drastic changes in livelihood patterns have socially and culturally denuded the status of women increasing violence and abuse against them....more
Globalisation
in The Fifth Schedule Areas - Alienation of Land and Resources from People
Development carnage under the New Economic Policy and its submission to the powers of globalisation have led to a process of conscious and systematic annihilation of the first people - the Adivasis- of this country....This process of globalisation has invaded India too since the introduction of the New Economic Policy of the Nineties, which is a complete reversal of the welfare and socialistic essence of the Constitution....more
The Health of the Hills is Wealth of the Plains
- A Concept Note
The Eastern and Western Ghats are two mountain systems of southern India, averaging 3000 to 5000 feet. While the Western Ghats run parallel to the Arabian Sea coast, the Eastern Ghats run roughly parallel to the Bay of Bengal coast. Of the total geographical area of Andhra Pradesh, 27.07% of it is covered by the Eastern Ghats and more than 2/3rds of the forest area in Andhra Pradesh is in the Eastern Ghats range of hills....Despite the cultural and ecological significance, the region has faced an economic and political invasion ever since the British administration...more
Joint Forest Management
- A Critique Based on People’s Perceptions
Conflict over control, management and decision-making over resources is the primary consequence of the increasing changes in politico-economic trends and policies. These conflict situations, having led to an alarming degradation of natural resources has given rise to new thoughts on the need to take people into confidence and involve them in the process of development. One such effort made by the government is the Joint Forest Management programme (JFM) initiated by the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department...A study was undertaken to analyse the relationship between empowerment and control over resources vis-à-vis the JFM program in Andhra
Pradesh....more
Impact of Globalisation on Adivasi Women and Children in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh is one state in India which is gaining international repute as the fast track state and the cyber state with its doors wide open to private investment, foreign capital and strives to be the up market technology hub. The Vision 2020 document of the state government is a definite projection of the direction in which policy and governance are envisioned where the implicate theory of certain 'growth engines' being the chaperons of development reflects the blinkered approach to socio-economic progress...more
Protective Legislations - Realities In The Field Case -
Study Of Anantagiri Mandal - Ravi Rebbapragada
The founding fathers of the Indian Constitution had, with right insight, taken into serious consideration, the plight of certain deprived and backward sections of the Indian society and brought into the constitutional framework some special legislations in order to protect their interests. In the tribal context, the protective legislations came into force with the objective of safeguarding the tribal people by the State from the onslaught of the non-tribals as, otherwise, they would be mercilessly exploited of their resources, labor and habitat. However, even a cursory examination reveals that these protective legislations have far from succeeded in protecting the interests of the tribals not only from the exploitation of
non-tribals but also from the State itself....more
Problems Related To Tribal People In Andhra Pradesh - A Report to the Scheduled Areas and the Scheduled Tribes Commission
The
Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission, a Constitutional body
to look into the tribal people’s problems has come at a very crucial
juncture, when the rights and resources of the tribal people of the
country are under serious threat and at a time when the constitutional
safeguards are being violated or attempted to be diluted. As an organization
advocating
the rights of the tribal people, Samata felt an urgent need to take
advantage of this opportunity of placing before the Commission some
of the critical concerns with regard to the tribal people in Andhra
Pradesh...more
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