On a day the Bokaro district administration went on an overdrive to tighten the noose around unscrupulous MGNREGS contractors, the state government claimed in the Assembly that the death of worker Subal Mahto wasn’t remotely connected to rampant corruption in the Centre’s flagship rural job scheme. Reprimanded by Union rural development secretary B.K. Sinha over the recent killings of the Bokaro labourer and MGNREGS crusader Niyamat Ansari, the government today made...
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Village land belongs to us: Gujarat farmers by Jumana Shah
As intermittent jubilation spreads through the crowd of 5,000-odd farmers at Moti Buru, outskirts of Ahmedabad, where the 'Jal, Jameen Jungle bachao padyatra' was on Saturday, Dr Kanubhai Kalsariya is quick to assert that this is not the final victory and that the fortnight-long yatra will continue till Gandhinagar as per schedule. The people's mass protest that has brought them this victory is spectacular in its own right. Fatigued from the...
More »Why was Niyamat Ansari Killed? : The Politics of NREGA and the Maoists by Avanish Kumar
The gruesome murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari has shocked the progressive civil society and political groups in the country. According to reports (one, two), Niyamat Ansari had exposed a case of corruption in NREGA and an FIR was lodged against a former BDO and another Panchayat Sevak of Manika block, Latehar (Jharkhand). On 2nd March 2011, Niyamat Ansari was picked from his house and beaten to death. The reports...
More »BKU drops Delhi siege plan after Manmohan's assurance by Gargi Parsai
On the eve of a massive agitation by Tikait Singh-led Bhartiya Kisan Union, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met representatives of the Union and assured them that “farmers interests will be fully protected at all times.” The Prime Minister told the delegation that he would convene a joint meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to have an in-depth discussion on the various issues raised by the BKU...
More »Unrealistic Solutions To Growing Problems by M Rajendran
With food inflation hovering in the double digit bracket for most part of 2010-11 and the aam aadmi up in arms, all hopes were pinned on the Union Budget 2011-12 for giving a new fillip to the farm sector. But the budget has disappointed most, in spite of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee allocating Rs 14,744 crore for agriculture. “An increase of only 2.6 per cent over last year makes the...
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