Country:

India

Region:

Asia

Date:

2019

Implementor:

Vasundhara and Collaborators

Funding Amount:

$49,663

Details:

As a result of SRM funding, legal and political advocacy work in India contributed to the stay in the Supreme Court case, halting evictions that could have affected up to 10 million adivasis and forest dwellers.

Political and media advocacy supported by the SRM contributed to the withdrawal of amendments to the Indian Forest Act that would have undermined and subverted the Forest Rights Act and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. SRM support also mobilized a media presence to defend the FRA. This included more than a dozen media articles which helped to develop a pro-FRA discourse. SRM funding also supported major studies on rejection of claims submitted by the petitioners in the ongoing hearings in the Supreme Court.

The SRM also supported grassroot-level advocacy and capacity building including that of Adivasi petitioners involved in the Supreme Court case.

Links to evidence:

https://www.livemint.com/politics/policy/ifa-amendments-pushback-reforms-in-india-s-forest-governance-1560884349553.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/03/20/indiassupreme-court-is-displacing-millions-modi-government-mustreverse-decision/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/02/22/india-ordersstaggering-eviction-million-indigenous-people-someenvironmentalists-are-cheering/

https://thewire.in/environment/top-wildlife-scientists-ask-forcancellation-of-sc-tribal-eviction-order

https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/stay-on-forest-eviction-withrap-on-government/cid/1685972

https://newscentral24x7.com/indian-forest-act-amendments-draftnarendra-modi-govt-tribal-rights-human-rights-activists/