Woman working in a medicinal plant nursery in Chhattisgarh, India.
On my visit to Chhattisgarh, people had warned me to be careful of the on-going tension between Maoists rebels and the Government. The 'Red Corridor' that stretches down eastern India is a high-risk area, especially for foreigners. Development in the forests and tribal lands of India has led to unjust displacement and destruction of India's natural environmental. Consequentially, tribal peoples have become polarized and extremist groups have formed. Just 4 days ago, 24 were killed in an attack on the state Congress party.
Within this context, projects such as those run by the UNDP in India, seek to address this tension by providing opportunities to marginalized groups, including women and unemployed youth.
However, we need to ask the question - are these schemes likely to ameliorate the problem as claimed, if other, destructive development problems (i.e. mining) continue unabated?
Check out this good documentary on Maoist 'revolution' in India: http://redantdream.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment