The Hindu, 14th July 2003

People’s Democracy | December 22, 2002

The charter of demands for a better life for the tribal peoples should consist of the following:

1. 1. Stop alienation of land belonging to the tribal people; plug loopholes in existing laws and take steps to restore land transferred from adivasis. Register land records for tribal lands. In scheduled areas under Fifth Schedule, adhere to the Samata judgement of Supreme Court regarding use of land for industrial and commercial purposes.
   2. Takeover surplus lands above ceiling and distribute them to landless adivasis along with other landless families. Provide irrigation facilities in remote tribal areas. Allot degraded forest land to tribal people.
   3. Amend the Forest Act in such a manner as to recognise the rights of adivasi forest dwellers to access and use of forests. People’s participation in forests through community management should be introduced.

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The Hindu | August 13, 2002

Ravi Rebbapragada has been mobilising tribals to fight for their rights through Samata, a voluntary organisation. This small grass roots movement, started 15 years ago, has today emerged as a state and national level lobby and advocacy institution.

MY CHILDHOOD was spent in the hills of Andhra Pradesh. As the son of a forest officer, I had the privilege of living in the forests amidst wildlife and tribal people. I started my schooling in Anakapalli (Visakhapatnam district) and moved to Hyderabad a few years later. Subsequently I did my B. Com. From Bhadruka College, Hyderabad. Armed with a PG Diploma in Rural development from Madras Christian College, I ventured into the forests many years later to refresh my childhood memories of the hills. The barren hill slopes and the endless battles of the tribals with the Government, outside world and nature, shocked me and I realised how inadequate and ill-equipped my degree was. (more…)

TIMES NEWS NETWORK | K RAMA RAYALU | MARCH 05, 2002

HYDERABAD: The issue pertaining to the land acquired for setting up a steel plant by the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) in Nagarnar in the predominantly tribal district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh is snowballing into a controversy.

According to Rebbapragada Ravi, Executive Director of Samata, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in the field of tribal rights and environment for the past 17 years, around 50,000 villagers belonging to Nagarnar, Kasturi, Maganpur and Amanguda gathered in a grand assembly of gram sabhas on March 2 and 3 to oppose the land acquisition. (more…)

Outlook, 24 December 2001

After Ravi Rebbapragada finished his post-graduation from the Madras Christian College in 1985, he decided to go back to Chintapalli, a tribal village in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district. Childhood memories were too strong for him to stay away from a place where he grew up with his father who worked for the Indian Forest Service. But the return was not as pleasant as he had imagined. Ravi was horrified by what he found—the picturesque little village of his childhood had vanished to give way to a teeming town. What shocked him even more was the plight of the local tribals—having missed the “development” bus, they were totally marginalised, with not even one of them having found a decent job. (more…)

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

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