Full Coverage: Land

30.10.2007 At last, the Government of India, under pressure from 25,000 people, agrees to set up a committee to look into the issues related to land reforms. The protestors hope that the ministerÂ’s announcement was more than mere playing to the gallery.

29.10.2007 They walked from Gwalior to Delhi, covering more than 300 km in less than four weeks. They lost seven of their comrades in this long march to claim lost rights. But it has been sheer disappointment at the end of the road for these 25,000 people, when they were stopped from marching up to the Indian Parliament to make their voices heard in the corridors of power.

29.10.2007 Policy planners, academics and representatives of non-governmental organizations will deliberate whether pastoralism provides a strategic alternative in the quest for sustainable development in a two day national seminar at Jaipur, Rajasthan on November 21-22.

29.10.2007 Agrarian tragedy is taking a new form in rural Vidarbha, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Spiraling medical costs and the lack of a basic health care system are making farmers mortgage their lands.

26.10.2007 Professor Bina Agarwal of the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) at Hague (Netherlands), making her join the ranks of earlier recipients Edward Said and Nobel laureates Jan Tinbergen and Amartya Sen.

24.10.2007 Drains stretching over dozens of miles were built to solve the problems of flooding along the Indus in the Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan, but have brought their own social and ecological problems. The World Bank claims to have spent 18 million dollars in 2004-2006 on improving living conditions in areas harmed by the National Drainage Project (NDP). They proposed further measures through 2016 to combat flooding and improve irrigation and drainage

23.10.2007

19.10.2007 Over 25,000 people danced, sang and walked, carrying flags, banners and posters in support of the MDGs at the north Indian city of Mathura. These poor, landless people are on a march to the capital to claim their rights from the government.

18.10.2007 P.V. Rajagopal of the Ekta Parishad talks while he walks, in a freewheeling interview with OneWorld South Asia, along with 25,000 people towards the Indian capital to demand pro-poor land reforms policy. Industrialisation alone cannot solve the problem of poverty and unemployment, he says. The march aptly named Janadesh meaning People's Verdict, is expected to reach Delhi on October 28.

18.10.2007 In India, hundreds of women came together to raise their voices against poverty at the WomenÂ’s Tribunal on Poverty on October 17. The event, held at New Delhi, was marked by the release of a womenÂ’s charter on poverty and a visit to the President, reinforcing their rights to be heard.

16.10.2007 Over 25,000 people are marching 350 kilometres from Gwalior to Delhi, the Indian capital, asking for equal rights to land, forest and water. The Janadesh 2007 campaign focuses on restoring peopleÂ’s self-worth and dignity through issues about their livelihood resources. Jonathan Weedon, an Ekta Parishad volunteer from Scotland shares some of his experiences on the long march to liberty and equity.

12.10.2007 Land acquisitions for industrialization, construction of dams and natural calamities have led to large scale displacement of millions of people in India. It remains to be seen how far the Union CabinetÂ’s recent approval of the new rehab and resettlement policy will address the problem.

08.10.2007 Over 25,000 people are marching 350 kilometres from Gwalior to Delhi, the Indian capital, demanding their land rights. Janadesh 2007 is a non-violent and civil disobedience campaign that focuses on restoring peopleÂ’s basic self-worth and dignity through issues about their livelihood resources.