Forest Rights, Third Pillar and Jawaharlal Nehru was an A-minus intellectual

Forest Rights, follow Gujarat Model says SA Aiyar in ToI:

"The folly of this becomes clear when we look at events in Dediapada taluka, Gujarat. Forest officials have been reluctant to recognise tribal rights fully. But in 2009, the bamboo forest in Dediapada flowered and died en masse. The dry fallen bamboo constituted a major fire hazard. So, the local divsional forest officer authorised local tribals to collect, transport and sell the dead bamboo.

With assistance from ARCH Vahini, a local NGO, the tribals struck a deal with the nearby JK Paper Mills to sell dry bamboo at Rs 2,815 per tonne. Between April 2014 and June 2015, the tribals supplied 96,000 tonnes of bamboo, yielding Rs 12 crore in wages and a net profit of Rs 6.5 crore, kept in a panchayat account for further investment in plantations. JK Paper Mills offered free saplings and technical advice to expand the bamboo groves."

Economist Rajan on YV Reddy's book in which he says that:

"Finally, Reddy also laments the lack of funding for the third pillar, municipal and village government. Here he faults the states for not taking Panchayati Raj seriously, and for not periodically setting up State Finance Commissions that would allocate funds between the state and its local bodies. States are guilty of doing to their local bodies what the Centre has done to them."

Natwar Singh discloses that:

Rajaji: You should have come with me to the Columbia University meeting. The boys and girls were very intelligent and asked meaningful questions as to what dharma is and what karma is. I told them dharma was universal duty plus natural order. They said, then it was socialism. I said, “Yes, if it was voluntary, but not the Indian Government’s socialism.” It was not a public meeting, so I said it. I do not want to do anything to embarrass you or the Government here.