-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The draft national policy on domestic workers, awaiting the Union Cabinet's nod, must be approved at the earliest. Activists and NGOs echoed this view at a panel discussion on Wednesday. "A national policy is the first step towards ensuring rights for domestic workers. It is also the first step before legislation is enacted. But despite our persistent efforts, progress is so slow," said Varghese Theckanath, convenor,...
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Do we need to produce so much rice? -Sandip Das
-The Indian Express Renowned agricultural scientist and vice-chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Baldev Singh Dhillon wants farmers in other parts of the country Renowned agricultural scientist and vice-chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Baldev Singh Dhillon wants farmers in other parts of the country to learn from Punjab and Haryana experience and judiciously use groundwater and fertiliser, to avoid problems faced by these two states today. Dhillon spoke to Sandip Das on the...
More »Whose Forest is it Anyway?-Shirish Khare
-Tehelka In their struggle for forest rights, the Baigas of Madhya Pradesh have adopted a form of protest dating back to the 1930s, says Shirish Khare An idol placed under a banyan tree passes for a temple in Masna village in Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh. Surrounded by dense forests, the village is inhabited by the "primitive" Baiga tribe. "The government has taken over our land and enclosed it with barbed...
More »Decline in Rates of Maternal and Infant Mortality
-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) As per the Sample Registration System (SRS), Registrar General of India (RGI-SRS), Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has shown a decline from 212 per 100,000 live births in the period 2007-09 to 178 per 100,000 live births in the period 2010- 12 and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has declined from 47 per 1000 live births in the year 2010 to 42 per 1000...
More »MGNREGA: A tale of wasted efforts
-Live Mint The scheme represents Rs.2.3 trillion spent on wasteful rural consumption This week marked the eighth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's key rural intervention, launched in 200 districts initially in February 2006. To the extent that such populist schemes helped raise wages without raising productivity. They have contributed more to inflation than to rural wealth. Worse, such schemes have...
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