EVENTS
|
Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam: Earth Democracy Natural resources of land, water and biodiversity, have always belonged to the people. The right to these resources and to access to them has now become the law of the land through the Panchayati Raj Amendments (73rd and 74th Amendments) and the Provision for Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas Act 1996), which have given tribal communities and gram sabhas the right to take decisions on the conservation, use and management of their natural resources of land, water and biodiversity, as well as on their culture. Globalisation and commodification of resources has pushed through legal and policy changes that commodify natural resources essential for survival: land, water and biodiversity and pave the way for corporate takeover of these resources. Such laws and policies violate the spirit of the Constitution, deny people their rights to natural resources and thus exclude them from their survival base. Already the country has witnessed thousands of farmers commit suicide induced by debt, as the price of inputs increase. Water riots are a daily occurrence in numerous places in the country. The tribal people in different regions are being displaced forcibly as the state connives with corporations to take over their lands for mining. The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, together with Navdanya and Diverse Women for Diversity is organising Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: Earth Democracy - National Convention on Community Rights to Natural Resources and the Constitution on August 10 and 11 at the Indian Social Institute, 10, Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. The Convention will focus on the violations of Community Rights to land, water and biodiversity and to strategize on how to strengthen these rights and rejuvenate real democracy. The Background Note and the Agenda for the Convention are attached. We invite you to join the Convention and make your valuable contribution to the defense of Community Rights and the Indian Constitution. |
National Convention on Community Rights to Natural Resources and the Constitution |