democracy. Coupled with financial dependency and corruption, this badly hampered the developmental activities. Donor Agencies and International Institutions Donor agencies and international institutions have not much role in this sector. However, these organizations are helping in raising awareness and local leadership development through NGO partners. At times, institutions like the World Bank attach some conditions which are mainly directed towards rehabilitation of displaced households. Private Sector The private sector is rather involved in impeding the land rights of IPs by grabbing the land for mining and industrial purposes and also by adopting fraudulent means by greasing the palms of corrupt politicians and officials. Civil Society Civil society organizations, particularly NGOs like Ekta Parishad, have played a vital role in raising awareness about land rights and organizing people for negotiation with government agencies. Some independent land rights activists are also active in awareness generation and organization of the people in groups to fight for their rights. Key Opportunities and Strategies to Advance IPs’ Customary Rights its amended form, and the MoU signed by the Minister of Rural Development with Jan Satyagrahis, etc., provide ample scope and opportunities to build up pressure on government to expedite the process of implementation in the larger interest of IPs. Strategies • Engage with different political parties to include the issue of land rights of IPs in their manifestos; • Organize IPs in groups in different linguistic regions along the line of Jan Satyagraha by Ekta Parishad; • Continue advocacy efforts at Central and State levels for assignment of land titles to landless IPs under the existing Acts; • Continue advocacy for protected areas for agriculture of IPs with individual and community rights on agriculture land being operated by them; • Capacity-building of IPs/PRIs by needs-based training, local leadership development and media management to highlight the issue of land rights on a national scale and attract the attention of governments at Central and state levels with strong public opinion as support. n References: Asian Development Bank (2009). Safeguard policy statement. Retrieved from http://www.adb.org/sites/ default/files/institutional-document/32056/safeguardpolicy-statement-june2009.pdf. Opportunities Existing provisions like The Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA) 1996; the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 in Goverment of India. (2012): Agriculture Census 2010-11 (Provisional). India: Agriculture Census Division, dept. of agriculture and cooperation, ministry of agriculture. Lok Niti 57