Farmers' frenzy against land acquisition spread on Sunday and singed more places in west Uttar Pradesh with the number of those killed rising to four. While 22 protesters were arrested for rioting and arson, the state government announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information on absconding farmer leader Manveer Singh Tevetia who triggered the protests. Four policemen were injured in Agra where farmers attacked cops demanding higher compensation for their...
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Make Sure The Cure Isn’t Worse Than The Disease by Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey
Itself the outcome of a bottom-up movement, the Jan Lokpal bill ironically proposes a centralised framework against graft. Without checks and balances. There was never any doubt that India needs a strong Lokpal Act. The protest has paved the way for its enactment. With the exultation over the anti-corruption campaign’s ‘victory’ quieting down, it’s time to take stock. Nuanced arguments—and indeed substance—have to recover lost ground to take the discourse...
More »Akhil released after ‘arrest’
Peasant leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi’s long drawn campaign against corruption reached a crescendo today with police detaining him for violating Section 144 while taking out a procession in support of Anna Hazare’s movement for the new Lok Pal Bill. He was later released. Hundreds of people spilled onto the streets of Assam, particularly in Upper Assam, today after police detained the RTI activist. Akhil was first stopped in the middle...
More »RTI activist held for code violation
RTI activist and leader of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) Akhil Gogoi, along with some of his associates, was arrested on Sunday for allegedly violating Section 144 Cr.PC and his press meet stopped under the Representation of the People Act. Kamrup (Metro) Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Chowdhury said Mr. Gogoi was detained for violating Section 144 Cr.PC after he and his associates gathered at Dighalipukhuri area to take out a...
More »Maximum Dithering for Minimum Wages!
Even though the Central Government agreed to link the wages paid under MG-NREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), it shied away from paying statutory minimum wages in various states of India. Their logic for this: Lack of clarity on who will bear the extra financial burden—the Centre or the states? A letter from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to UPA and NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi dated 31...
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