While the Maharashtra government contends that there is a large number of false claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act 2006, Adivasis feel they have been short-changed by the State, which has denied legitimate claims. Thousands of Adivasis are marching to Mumbai from all parts of the Maharashtra to highlight the lacunae in the system. The march will culminate in a public rally...

The state cabinet which met here on Tuesday approved the Right to Service (RTS) Act and the Chief Minister Food Security Scheme (CMFSS). According to sources in the state cabinet, the RTS Act enables a citizen right to service within a stipulated period taking away the right of the government employees to sit on files related to services of the citizens. The sources said under the Mukhyamantri Khadya Suraksha Yojana i.e. CMFSS,...

In a unique move to curb corruption in the public distribution system (PDS), ration coupons in Bihar will be bar-coded from June. The next set of PDS coupons —a for June 2011 to May 2012 — has gone into print and will have bar code to prevent duplication. A bar code is a group of thin and thick lines printed on products you buy in a shop, and which a computer...

While other Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Ministers are in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, Jayant Patil is trying to make a difference in Maharashtra. Divested of his finance portfolio which went to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Mr. Patil, now Rural Development Minister, has embarked on an ambitious programme of tree plantation and rural sanitation, combined with planned development of villages for the first time. In a whirlwind tour...

More than a hundred officials from various government and non government agencies observed a minute’s silence to pay tribute to slain Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) activist Niyamat Ansari at a consultation session organised by Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) to discuss the challenges facing the scheme and its future today. Deputy Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was the chief guest on the occasion, faced a barrage of...