indiatogether.org | July 2001

Ravi Rebbapragada introduces a campaign to oppose the amendment of Schedule V of the Constitution of India

July 2001: The Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution that provides protection to the adivasi people living in the Scheduled Areas, is under imminent threat of being amended to allow the transfer of tribal lands to non-tribals and corporates. This move has serious economic and cultural implications to the 80 million tribals of the country. This report attempts to capture the sequence of recent events and concludes with an appeal for support. (more…)

The Hindu, June 16, 2001

HYDERABAD, JUNE 15. A Division Bench of the A.P. High Court, comprising Chief Justice Mr. Satyabrata Sinha and Mr. Justice S.R. Nayak, on Friday declared that there shall be no further construction of permanent structures on and near the Hussainsagar lake and its catchment area.

The Bench made it clear that any other activity would have to be taken up only after a clearance from the A.P. Pollution Control Board. The Bench was disposing of a writ petition filed by `Hyderabad Bachao’ and `Samata’, voluntary organisations, represented by Capt. J. Rama Rao and Mr. Ravi Rebbapragada respectively. The petitioners filed the writ petition complaining that the Tourism Department was going ahead with about 18 projects in and around the already endangered lake. (more…)

Business Standars Economy Bureau, Rediff.com, March 6, 2001

The controversy of tribal land being sold to non-tribals in the Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) privatisation deal remains unresolved. The controversy was raked up by Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi and the workers union soon after the deal was announced.

The Chhatisgarh government had filed a petition in the high court, on the basis of the Samata (it is a non-governmental organisation) judgement of the Supreme Court, opposing the Balco divestment deal. The state government had stated that as the land on which the company’s Korba plant stands is ‘tribal land’, the Centre cannot transfer it to a private company. (more…)

The Hindu, July 26, 2000

Mrs. Bhanu Pragada is a social worker and an activist with the NGO Samata.

Social work? NGO?……….

These were alien words in my home that my family refused to acknowledge; they were soon to discover though that they hardly had a choice. Hailing from a background of a middle class family, these were dreams that were not meant to be dreamt. A cherished hope that I chose to make a reality.

An exposure to community work, visits to homes for the juvenile and jails while still in college through the NSS activities awakened the spirit of the indignant crusader in me. (more…)

by

Gautam N. Yadama, Ph.D.
Bhanu R. Pragada
Ravi R. Pragada

Edited by

Tan Lay Cheng
Patrick B. Durst

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Bangkok, Thailand

(more…)

Personal Website of R. Kannan

Given the above scenario, one of the most difficult tasks for a social activist is to find a lawyer with a vision who is able to see the bigger picture and be prepared to fight for it. This calls for activists to sensitize lawyers on an ongoing basis and not restrict this activity to the peculiarities of a specific case. Also there is a need to sensitize law students in order to build a body of public interest lawyers in this country. (more…)

M.S. Shankar, Outlook – April 06, 1998

Rankled by a PWG unit’s harassment, tribal women give Naxals a taste of their own medicine

IF there is a whiff of an agitation, can women be far behind, in Andhra Pradesh that is? In the recent past, the womenfolk have successfully organised themselves to launch a vigorous anti-arrack movement, forcing the state government to ban the sale of the brew. Now, they have declared war against one of the most dreaded Naxal outfits, the People’s War Group (PWG), in East Godavari district. If it was Rosamma in Dubagunta (Nellore) who spearheaded the prohibition drive and drove the then Congress government headed by Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy to ban liquor in 1982, it’s Bodeti Lakshmi of Peddamallapuram who has now stormed into the limelight with her bold initiative to teach a lesson or two to the PWG. (more…)