ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

Articles by Ujjal kumar SarmaSubscribe to Ujjal kumar Sarma

Relocation from Tiger Reserves under the NTCA Guidelines

Relocation under the National Tiger Conservation Authority Guidelines for Voluntary Village Relocation in Notified Core/Critical Tiger Habitats of 2011, represents a paradigmatic shift from the previous history of displacement from protected areas. About a decade later, this article attempts an overview of the state of relocation under the Guidelines and seeks to throw light on the implementation challenges faced so far.

Protection of Traditional Knowledge

The new National Intellectual Property Rights Policy advocates an aggressive, neo-liberal agenda of commodification of knowledge, and extends this to traditional knowledge as well. However, there is a need to revisit the primary, still unresolved issues regarding the protection of traditional knowledge and their tentative solutions. Considering the inevitability of participation in the global trade order, a case is made for equipping traditional knowledge holders and indigenous and local communities with the wherewithal to participate in the market economy, proactively assert their rights over their traditional knowledge, and derive benefits from its use.

How Does Government Microfinance Impact the Rural Poor?

While microfinance companies have been studied and there is a growing consensus that they exclude the poorest, the impact of government microfinance programmes is relatively less understood. The National Rural Livelihoods Mission, which aims to reduce rural poverty by organising women into self-help groups, building capacity and providing access to microcredit is evaluated through a survey of 2,615 households in five districts of Madhya Pradesh. The focus is on four key questions. Who benefits and who gets left out? What is the pattern of household investment priorities? Is sustainable asset accumulation happening? What should be the exit strategy? It is found that the NRLM benefited the poor, while the very poor are struggling to repay the loans and getting left behind in poverty.

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