The 40th episode of AHRC TV’s Human Rights Asia Weekly Roundup is a special programme on land rights in India.
An estimated 100 million Indians have been negatively affected by mega development projects since independence. Such projects have caused large-scale destruction of traditional forests and loss of fertile agricultural land. Indigenous and poor communities have been most victimised as the Indian State has colluded with private interests for their breakneck growth.
The central Indian provinces of Madhya Pradesh and Odisha are frontlines in the tussle between indigenous communities and corporate interests over the resources of land, mountains, forests, and rivers.
In this programme, Video Volunteers brings AHRC TV two reports from Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Communities in these two states are fighting back against the powerful mining interests that are using the arms of the State to snatch the land and forest rights of the people.
For more background, AHRC TV speaks with Indian human rights defender Sachin Jain about how the Indian government steals land and forests from poor and indigenous communities, despite protective legislation, and subsidises private corporation to the tune of $ billions annually. Mr. Jain says that vast sums of public money, which could have been spent on delivering the promise of education, healthcare, clean water, and basic nutritional needs for all, are handed as ‘charity’ to big corporations.
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