Although social activists and concerned economists demanded at least Rs. 1 lakh crore to be earmarked in favour of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Finance Minister in her budget speech on 1st February allocated only Rs.61,500 crore to it for the financial year 2020-21. As compared to the fund spent on MGNREGA in 2019-20 (i.e. revised estimate of Rs.71,001.81 crore), the amount set aside for the...
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Fewer hospital-born babies in Madhya Pradesh as women fear virus -Sidharth Yadav
-The Hindu In Madhya Pradesh, COVID-19 health priorities lead to 18.6% drop in institutional deliveries in April. Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh recorded a fall of 18.6% in institutional deliveries in April, the first month of the COVID-19 lockdown, casting a shadow on an improving trend, National Health Mission (NHM) data show. Private and government-run health centres recorded 97,881 births in April 2019, around 18.1% more than the previous year. However, the count dipped to...
More »Barring a few, most states and UTs ignored the guidelines to help persons with disabilities during the lockdown
A recent survey conducted by National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) -- a Delhi-based non-profit organisation -- shows how persons with disabilities in the country were disproportionately affected by the COVID–19 crisis. The report by NCPEDP has observed that persons with disabilities, particularly those from economically deprived sections, went through severe hardship during the lockdown. Without sufficient access to food or money, many of them faced hunger...
More »Restrictions on media & internet in Kashmir has cost the country its press freedom ranking but score improves
Although no journalist was murdered in the country last year as opposed to six such murders in 2018, it would be wrong to say that press freedom has never been violated, says the recently released report by Reporters without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières - RSF) -- a media watchdog organisation that works for freedom of expression and information. The report says that India's performance in 2020 World Press Freedom Index (WPFI)...
More »More than 1,100 feminists issue solidarity statement condemning police crackdown on anti-CAA-NPR-NRC protestors during COVID-19 lockdown
-Press note by Feminists Against CAA, dated 3rd May, 2020 More than 1,100 women and feminists all across the globe have joined hands to protest against the detention and arrest of 800+ anti-Citizenship Amendment Act activists. A statement has been issued to condemn the crackdown on anti-CAA-NPR-NRC activists (including Muslim men and women) in Delhi. Please click here to access the statement. Please click here to access the list of signatories. For...
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