India's abysmal gender inequality statistics seem to have taken a turn for the worse. New data shows the country's Gender Inequality Index (GII) worsened between 2008 and 2011, and India now ranks 129 out of 146 countries on the GII, better only than Afghanistan in south Asia. On the Human Development Index (HDI), India ranks 134 out of 187 countries. When inequality is factored in, it experiences a 30% drop in...
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Lokpal Movement: Unanswered Questions by Gautam Navlakha
Why is it that the Anna Hazare-led movement against corruption does not seek to have the Lokpal cover NGOs, corporate houses and the corporate media? Gautam Navlakha (gnavlakha@gmail.com) is a member of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi. It would be churlish to dismiss “Team Anna’s” mass mobilisation which is an assertion of our collective right to protest. This is especially so in view of the fact that after having waited...
More »Scavenging, NREGA kept PM, Sonia busy during 2G, Anna storms by DK Singh
What kept Prime Minister Manmohan Singh busy after securing minister A Raja’s resignation on the night of November 14 last year? He was writing a reply to National Advisory Council chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s letter on the practice of manual scavenging. On November 15, he wrote to her that he was asking the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment to “examine how to strengthen” implementation of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and...
More »NREGA has not led to labour shortage in agriculture, construction: Jairam Ramesh
-PTI Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh today refuted the charge that National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) had caused labour shortage in sectors like agriculture and construction. Ramesh said that there was a deliberate attempt to spread propaganda discrediting NREGA. "The scheme has increased agricultural wages, reduced distressed migration in some parts of the country and created community assets particularly Water conservation structures. Of course, there is room for improvement," the...
More »Without rehab, life is a hell for encephalitis-hit children by Aarti Dhar
In Gorakhpur, thousands have become a burden on their poor families Lack of rehabilitation facilities for thousands of children, disabled here after a Japanese encephalitis attack, has made life a burden for them. Already reeling under acute poverty, these children are now an economic burden on their families. The monthly allowance given by the Uttar Pradesh government to the disabled in 2005-06 was abruptly discontinued. “Life is worse than hell for my...
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