-Economic and Political Weekly The Chhapra tragedy must ask us how we can improve public services, not scrap them altogether. In the aftermath of the ghastly tragedy in Chhapra, Bihar, where 22 children lost their lives after they consumed a government-provided school meal containing organophosphate pesticides, we must demand of the State a far greater commitment to administering large-scale welfare programmes that are meant to improve, not destroy the life of citizens....
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Assam sees drop in spending on MGNREGA in last four fiscals; down 13% in FY'13
-PTI GUWAHATI: The government's spending on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme in Assam has been declining continuously in the last four fiscals and it dropped by 13 per cent during 2012-13. According to official documents, the total expenditure, including both the Centre and the state's shares, in Assam on MGNREGA during 2012-13 stood at Rs 651.55 crore. However, the same was Rs 748.44 crore during the previous financial year. The spending...
More »A food security ordinance that will stimulate food inflation is passing strange
-The Times of India The Parliament's monsoon session is only about a month away. That the Union cabinet has yet taken the ordinance route to implement the national food security Bill signals the scam-tainted UPA government's desperation to woo voters before the next general elections. But the hope that expanding what is already one of the world's largest food security programmes will boost political fortunes is hallucinatory. The exchequer is already...
More »When incomes grow, but jobs elude -Sonalde Desai
-The Indian Express The latest NSSO data also underlines the increasing absence of women from the labour market Every time results from one of the "thick" rounds of the National Sample Survey come out, we get into a feeding frenzy, trying to slice and dice the statistics for changes since the previous round. Since NSS large rounds are typically conducted every five years, there is perhaps some sense to it, particularly when...
More »Rajasthan gives people right to pink-slip babus -Anindo Dey
-The Times of India JAWAJA (AJMER): The complaints, like always, were many. But the tables had been turned. At the receiving end were government officers as people crowded around demanding an explanation for being denied their right. It was their day of hearing. A motley group of villagers thrust 'pink slips' towards the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) demanding to know why they were being denied the Re 1 a kg wheat promised by...
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