Representatives of around 20 civil society organizations and NGOs met the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley as part of pre-budget consultation on social sector on 12 January, 2016. Immediately after the pre-budget consultation, a press conference was held by some of these organizations to convey the media persons what demands/ suggestions were made.   Subrat Das, Executive Director of Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA, http://www.cbgaindia.org/) informed us that during...

-Business Standard Jamghat, an organisation in Delhi, is steering street children towards a better life The year was 2003. Prince Charles was to visit India and the NGO Action Aid planned to stage a street play on homelessness for him. It roped in Amit Sinha, a theatre professional, and 14 street children from diverse backgrounds for the project. The play was a success and the ragtag band toured the country to perform it....

-Hindustan Times Kota: Concerned over the rising number of students committing suicides, the Kota district administration and the city’s coaching institutes have begun taking corrective measures in an attempt to de-stress the students and instil positivity in them. The district administration has chalked out a strategy to reduce the pressure that students undergo, issuing several guidelines to coaching institutes including starting weekly offs for students, augmenting the number of counsellors, providing fees...

-The Hindu Business Line The Centre must act now as a year of medical mishaps across the nation comes to an end A little over three months ago, the country watched in horror when news unfolded of the death of a seven-year-old in Delhi from dengue and the subsequent suicide by his young parents. The harrowing experience of getting a simple thing like a bed in a hospital when you need it was...

-Livemint.com Once the entire population is covered, it will be the newborns who will get added and allocated Aadhaar numbers—a continuous process New Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) plans to formalize the enrolment process of children under the Aadhaar programme. “We plan to identify clusters of 5-7 schools or anganwadis (Day Care Centres) and set up permanent Aadhaar enrolment centres,” an UIDAI official said, requesting anonymity. With enrolment of adults...