Odisha Government Acts to Prevent Transfer of Tribal Lands

03 Jan 2025 CW Team

During the first meeting of the Tribal Advisory Council (TAC), chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, a proposal to amend Rule-2 of the 1956 Land Transfer Act, aimed at preventing the transfer of tribal lands, was rejected.

The TAC, formed in November 2024 with a tenure of two years, is expected to make significant decisions in the coming years. Chief Minister Majhi assured that the state government is committed to ensuring justice for tribal communities in all areas and protecting their rights. He emphasised the importance of delivering justice to Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) through the Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956, and affirmed that necessary measures would be taken to integrate tribal communities into the mainstream.

The meeting also discussed a proposal to include the Mundari language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, along with deliberations on other tribal languages. A state-level workshop will be organised to facilitate consultations on the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, with the participation of block and district-level tribal representatives, MPs, and MLAs.

On January 5, the state government will launch the Saheed Madho Singh Hath Kharcha Yojana, which will provide an annual stipend of Rs 5,000 to students enrolled in classes IX and XI, aiming to reduce dropout rates and encourage higher education. Additionally, efforts are underway to convert 705 schools under the Saheed Laxman Nayak School Transformation Programme into model schools, as confirmed by official sources.

The Odisha government will explore alternative solutions to assist tribal communities in addressing various needs, such as funding for weddings, higher education for children, or business ventures through loans, to prevent them from having to sell their lands. During the first meeting of the Tribal Advisory Council (TAC), chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, a proposal to amend Rule-2 of the 1956 Land Transfer Act, aimed at preventing the transfer of tribal lands, was rejected. The TAC, formed in November 2024 with a tenure of two years, is expected to make significant decisions in the coming years. Chief Minister Majhi assured that the state government is committed to ensuring justice for tribal communities in all areas and protecting their rights. He emphasised the importance of delivering justice to Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) through the Odisha Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property (by Scheduled Tribes) Regulation, 1956, and affirmed that necessary measures would be taken to integrate tribal communities into the mainstream. The meeting also discussed a proposal to include the Mundari language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, along with deliberations on other tribal languages. A state-level workshop will be organised to facilitate consultations on the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, with the participation of block and district-level tribal representatives, MPs, and MLAs. On January 5, the state government will launch the Saheed Madho Singh Hath Kharcha Yojana, which will provide an annual stipend of Rs 5,000 to students enrolled in classes IX and XI, aiming to reduce dropout rates and encourage higher education. Additionally, efforts are underway to convert 705 schools under the Saheed Laxman Nayak School Transformation Programme into model schools, as confirmed by official sources.

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Kavach 4.0 Commissioned on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah

"Kavach version four has been commissioned on 1,452 route km, covering the high density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors. The rollout included laying 8,570 km of optical fibre, installation of 1,100 telecom towers, deployment of trackside equipment over 6,776 RKm and establishment of 767 station data centres. Trackside implementation has been taken up on 24,427 RKm covering Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and High Density Network sections. The programme aims to strengthen signalling and train protection on key routes.Kavach is an indigenously developed automatic train protecti..

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Railways Advance Kalyan–Murbad Line And Mumbai Capacity Expansion

"Indian Railways is advancing multiple rail infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including the sanctioned Kalyan–Murbad new line and sizable investments under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. The Kalyan–Murbad 28 km new line has been sanctioned at Rs 8.36 billion (bn) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the Government of Maharashtra and has been declared a Special Railway Project for land acquisition; proposals covering 214 hectares are at various stages of acquisition. Budgetary outlay for projects falling fully or partly in Maharash..

Infrastructure Urban

12 Mar 2026

Parliamentary Panel Flags Funding Gaps in Heavy Industries

"The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (Rajya Sabha) presented its 332nd report on the Demands for Grants 2026-27 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Figures converted from crore and lakh are expressed in million (mn). The Budget Estimates 2026-27 for the Ministry stand at Rs 79,399 mn against a projected requirement of Rs 94,843.2 mn, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, with revenue at Rs 79,370.8 mn and capital compressed to Rs 28.2 mn from Rs 5,020 mn.The committee flagged recurring BE-to-RE compression and declining revised estimate utilisation, and calle..