Revisit century-old Act, Bench asks Parliament, Law Commission  Expressing concern over the plight of farmers and others whose rights are affected when their land is acquired for development, the Supreme Court has said there is need for Parliament and the Law Commission to revisit the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, which is more than a century old. Acquisition affects the vital rights of farmers and gives rise to litigation and agitations, said...

The government will compile figures at the district and block levels to arrive at a more accurate identification of poor for better targeting of welfare schemes. So far, the poor in India have only been counted at the national and state levels. The Planning Commission has commissioned a study which will come up with these relevant numbers soon. The poverty cut-offs (a minimum monthly expenditure below which people are considered...

Regular dialogue between villagers, doctors and elected representatives has reflected in improved health services in rural parts of the state. The data was collected from 220 villages and 40 primary health centres across fifteen blocks in five districts of the state including Pune. Sathi-Cehat, a state nodal NGO, collected the information under Community Based Monitoring (CBM) of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). "Nine key health services were rated by...

More thought needs to be given to the kind of data generated and its practical implications.  Yesterday when the census enumerator visited, I asked him how he felt about the current debate on counting caste in the census: “Not comfortable at all”, he said, “I don't even like asking whether someone is SC/ST or Other, leave alone what their caste is.” But, he added, “caste is an inescapable reality of...

“With Delhi having a malnutrition rate of 47 per cent among the urban poor and 35 per cent in the city, the rate of malnutrition is far worse than even sub-Sahara,” stated experts at a consultation on “Declining quality of life of the young child in Delhi' organised by non-government organisation Delhi Forces in the Capital earlier this week. The consultation follows a Jan Sunvai, a collaborative effort of Delhi Forces...