-The Economic Times Special Economic Zones will need to fulfill provisions of the proposed Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, if the rural development ministry has its way.  The draft bill, currently being circulated for inter-ministerial consultation, does not exempt land acquired under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, Works of Defence Act, 1903, and Cantonments Act, 2006, from adhering to the acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement provisions of the proposed legislation.  Acquisition...

-The Business Standard   MGNREGA review should be based on more research Both acclaim and accusations have been hurled at the UPA’s landmark scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National rural Employment Guarantee programme, or MGNREGA. Usually, the reasons for the criticism or praise are less-than-completely supported. For example, it has been both praised and condemned for providing local wage employment to the jobless, thus curbing outmigration; similarly, it is claimed that the scheme has...

With the threat of a failed monsoon and an impending drought, the need for public works and for greater numbers of workers will arise in many states, says National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy Despite all its seminal achievements, the Mahatma Gandhi National rural Employment Gurantee Act is at the receiving end of the most controversial critiques any government programme has received so far. We could perhaps invert this to say...

-The Times of India   Higher education in India should not perpetuate inequality of opportunity It's admission time again. Charming images of 'freshers' entering the campus and glossy advertisements of the universities we had never heard before hide the harsh reality of educational mortality from school to higher education. Elaborate coverage of rising cutoffs and entrance tests draw our attention to individual merit and luck. We tend to forget the overwhelming role of...

-The Hindustan Times To maintain a fine balance between allies’ pressure and investors’ sentiments, the UPA government will let states decide their own limits on acquiring land for private projects. In its ambitious Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, the Centre has bypassed recommendations of a parliamentary panel and will give states the power to fix their own ceilings. The draft bill prepared by UPA-1 ran into a hurdle over the...