Why were two tribals and the Essar group framed by the Chhattisgarh police? Why are Soni Sori and Linga Kodopi being systematically silenced? This chilling story of one family reveals more about India's Naxal crisis than any official document can. AS I sit to write this, at 12.20 pm on 4 October 2011, an SMS pops up on my phone: “Soni Sori has been arrested by the Delhi Crime Branch.” The...

-The Indian Express   National Advisory Council (NAC) member Aruna Roy has sought UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s intervention in implementing the Karnataka High Court ruling — that the wages under the NREGS cannot be less than the minimum wages prevailing in the area — across the country. Roy has termed the delinking of the wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme from the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act as a “more...

The Central expenditure on the job guarantee scheme may shoot up with civil society pressure that wages under the MGNREGAshould be governed by the Minimum Wages Act. NAC member Aruna Roy on Saturday urged Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi to implement the Karnataka high court order which has struck down the government order that wages under the scheme could be lower than the minimum wages in the state. The HC order...

AIDWA wants Planning Commission proposal immediately withdrawn The Planning Commission's proposal for relaxing the ban on sex determination tests has evoked sharp reactions, both for and against. The proposal envisages relaxing the rules for sex determination in foetus but giving incentives to stakeholders and mothers, if it is a girl child, to ensure safe delivery. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Shantha Sinha says the government should ensure the...

-The Hindustan Times   After poverty line, the government and the civil society may converge on bringing crores of workers enrolled under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) under the minimum wages law. The government had earlier rejected demand by civil society members and Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council of paying wages to MGNREGA workers as per notified minimum wages of states. The reason given was that states could hike minimum...