-Frontline.in Interview with Nikhil Dey, rights activist and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, on 15 years of the Right to Information Act. India’s Right to Information (RTI) Act, which was promulgated in 2005, is considered one of the most advanced and powerful pieces of rights legislation in the world. Although an evolved law that forces governments to become more transparent and accountable, almost every regime has shown reluctance to uphold...

-The Hindu The Farm Acts are farmer-unfriendly and in violation of important constitutional safeguards Amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic, Indian farmers have marched their way to New Delhi. The reason behind the protest is a request to repeal the recently passed Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. Akin to stock trading All...

-Scroll.in Often the sole source of income for households in villages, NREGA has been plagued with issues during the pandemic. During the lockdown, an estimated 20 million to 30 million migrant workers returned home, out of work and out of money. Some of them tried helping their families with farming and some even used the skills they had developed to set up new enterprises. But most remained jobless. The National Rural Employment...

-The Hindu It is reassuring that there is a signal from the Supreme Court about thinking and speaking about personal liberty There can be no better way for a judge of the Supreme Court of India to mark his birthday by celebrating the glorious constitutional duty that has been entrusted to him and his peers as officers of the highest court in the land. Last week, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud did precisely this,...

-The Hindu The new labour laws are a brutal attack on workers’ ability to safeguard their rights Labour law ‘reform’ has been on the table since 1991 as every government’s favourite solution for economic growth. Yet, there was no consensus between governments, political parties, workers and their trade unions, and employers, on what this meant. Unlike other political formations, the BJP has been in unqualified agreement with employers that the existing labour...