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...

-The Telegraph Ranchi: Childbirths at home, no immunisation. Allegedly, this continues to happen in capital Ranchi, within city limits in a locality some 2km from Khel Gaon. A Jan Sunvai or district-level public hearing, held today under the aegis of National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), Jharkhand, had stunning disclosures like these from lower-tier urban healthcare workers, which may have ringing implications at a time Ranchi is eyeing the Centre's coveted Smart City...

-NDTV In a few days, on the 29th of November, a group of four safai karmacharis (sweepers) and three beldars (diggers) along with three more senior persons, all working for the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), will be returning from a week-long official trip to Japan and South Korea where they are learning first-hand about sanitation, cleanliness, waste disposal as well as the maintenance of urban colonies, markets etc. The NDMC...

-DNA A government resolution (GR) to bring back the system was issued this week by the social justice and special assistance department. The move aims to "economically empower" the Valmiki and other scheduled caste (SC) communities, which have been traditionally involved in the cleaning jobs, states the GR. All Sanitation workers employed in the government, semi-government and civic bodies across Maharashtra can now nominate their kin for their job after they retire...

-DNA If we observe closely, the women entrepreneurs who run a variety of local small businesses are drivers of the local economy in many ways. Never ending stretches of backwaters and lush green coconut groves welcome you as you drive through the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the only state in India where the sex ratio is of 1084 females per 1000 males. At 92%, Kerala has one of...