In an earlier post, we had discussed who owns minerals in India under the Constitution. In broad terms, state governments usually own onshore minerals, all offshore minerals are owned by the union government. There are two additional aspects of minerals to consider, the public trust doctrine and the intergenerational equity principle. The Public Trust Doctrine, an integral part of common law …
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The psychology of work and Basic Income
Ezra Klien in the Vox has an interesting western perspective on Basic Income. I wonder if the same psychological dynamic plays out in India, or other societies in the developing world. It must be remembered that unemployment and underemployment is the norm here, full employment is merely a dream. Of course, a Citizen’s Dividend avoids these issues as it is a …
Permanent Fund model for Ethical Mining
CSDS (the Center for the Study of Developing Societies) conducted a seminar on “Permanent Fund Model for Ethical Mining: Lands, Livelihoods and Intergenerational Equity”. Held in partnership with Goa Foundation and Inclusive Media for Change, the seminar was held in India International Center, New Delhi on Feb 18 & 19, 2015. A detailed report on the discussions can be downloaded …
Scroll : Goa mining judgement is a first
A beautiful, albeit dated, summary by Mridula Chari of the unprecedented nature of the Goa mining judgement for we the people, our children, and our future generations. “Observing that natural resources belonged to the state, which is a trustee of its citizens, the court ordered that a part of the profits from the sale of iron ore be set aside for a permanent …
Who owns title to minerals in India?
Across the world, the sovereign / federal / union government usually owns title to all minerals. The big exception is the USA where land owners also own the minerals beneath the earth. Even there, the federal government owns 1/3rd of the land. For India though, it is a simple question with a complex answer. Under Article 297 of our Constitution, offshore minerals are …
P2P Foundation blogs on the Goenchi Mati campaign
David Bollier, author, activist, blogger and consultant on the commons, calls the Supreme Court order in the Goa mining case setting up the Permanent Fund as a bold precedent, “the first time that a court anywhere had ordered such a remedy, and it resulted in the first permanent fund in India.” Something Goa should be proud of!
Roundup of Basic Income pilots conducted
Here’s a short list of pilots of Universal Basic Income. The pilot in India by UNICEF & SEWA in Madhya Pradesh is presently considered the best study. Watch the video, read the executive summary, the full report, or buy the book. Bolsa Familia in Brazil is a conditional cash transfer, but probably one of the largest. We should not forget Scott Santens, who has a …
Avoid resource curse through Permanent Funds – Brookings
The Brookings Institute has recommended that US states Pennsylvania and Ohio establish Permanent Funds from their taxes from oil & gas fracking. This is similar to our proposal relating to the Goenchi Mati Permanent Fund. Devashree Saha & Mark Muro in their report titled “Permanent trust funds: Funding economic change with fracking revenues” advance five elements of good fund governance and management …
The automation of mining
In recent months, great strides have been made in automation of parts of the mineral chain. Rio Tinto now has two iron ore mines in Australia where all trucks are automated, and controlled from 1,200 km away. They are also on the verge of automating their trains. And at the other end of the world, APM has started its almost completely automated Maasvlakte 2 …
March roundup on Basic Income
With the exploding interest in Basic Income, Scott Santens sends out his first monthly update. Scott is one of the more thoughtful writers on the subject. Interestingly, Scott has created his personal basic income (through Patreon), so that he can focus on advocating the idea.