Activists also opposed to use of JCB machines Hundreds of protesting villagers march towards the Chief Minister’s residence The Gehlot government’s honeymoon with activist groups seems to be nearing its end with their growing frustration over the lackadaisical approach of authorities to the transparency clause in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Though among the best in the country in the implementation of the scheme, Rajasthan has seemingly gone back...
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Violence and threats bring a government to its knees by Vidya Subrahmaniam
Rajasthan had emerged as a model for transparency and accountability in NREGS implementation. Tragically, entrenched interests have been allowed to hijack the process. Through the second half of October and for most of November this year, Rajasthan was engulfed in an unusual form of protest, spearheaded in the main by gram panchayat officials. Joined in some places by elected MLAs and MPs, and backed covertly by a section of District...
More »Stars don’t foretell any more by Aparna Pallavi
Sahyadris have been documenting the changing climate for 40 years The latest joke among the Mahadeo Koli tribals living in the Bhimashankar area of Maharashtra’s Pune district is: “Ovni zali ka? (Have you transplanted your paddy?)” In the rain drenched Sahyadri range, where the main food crop is paddy, the unseasonal rains brought on by cyclone Phyan in late November have caused the harvested crop of fragrant Raibhog paddy to sprout...
More »Resistance a strategy for staying alive: Binayak by Rahi Gaikwad
One-third of India is starving. In fact, this population has been in a state of chronic hunger, a factor which should be taken into account while evaluating the poverty situation, human rights activist and eminent doctor Binayak Sen said in a lecture at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences here on Monday. As a physician, “it’s been my privilege to read the politics of the bodies of my people,” said Dr....
More »Activists divided over legalization of prostitution
The number of sex workers in the country may touch a whopping five million in just a few years, if the world's oldest profession is legalized as suggested by the Supreme Court, warn activists. Hearing a PIL by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan about large scale child trafficking, the apex court had last week said that if the trade can't be curbed through punitive measures, legalizing it would be a better...
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