India’s 2006 Forest Rights Act* is potentially the most significant pro-Peoples legislation of its kind in the country’s history. If thoroughly implemented, the Act stands to benefit more forest-dependent communities, impacted by mineral projects, than anywhere else on Earth.
In 2010 the Saxena Committee was set up to make recommendations on the Act’s implementation. Last year, another committee chaired by NC Saxena delivered a report on Vedanta’s alleged violations in Orissa which contributed significantly to the central government denying the UK company a permit for its Niamgiri bauxite mine.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10630.