Many work in unscientifically built mines, employing crude methods and risking their lives The mines in Hazaribagh district are manned mostly by children aged between 7 and 17 Exposure to dust and coal particles has left them with respiratory problems Javir Kumar, 14, works in illegal coal mines, each a “rat hole,” 10x10 foot and 400 foot deep, where a mere slip of the foot will plunge one to a certain death. A large...

Contractors complete the work by employing some other labourers and using machines An inquiry into the lathi-charge on protesting farmers in Koppal has brought to light the nexus between contractors and labourers. The inquiry conducted by the Koppal taluk panchayat executive officer in all the five gram panchayats - Boodagumpa, Irkalgad, Hasgal, Indargi and Madinur - has revealed that the labourers who staged the protest had not registered themselves seeking jobs under...

The UPA government's flagship programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has found itself in the eye of storm again. This time in a panchayat of the coastal district of Kendrapada thanks to an RTI activist. RTI activist Niladri Bhusan Tripathy of Kendrapada recently sent a petition to the executive officer of Golarhat panchayat in Derabishi block of the district seeking information on the project expenditure under the MGNERGA...

Ever since Malkangiri collector R Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi were released by the Maoists, development work has taken a beating in the "cut-off" area under Kudumulgumma block of Malkangiri district. Maoists had abducted Krishna and Majhi at gun-point from near Bodopoda, located within the "cut-off" area, while they were returning after inspecting a development work there on February 16. The Red rebels had released the collector on...

With wheat production expected to touch a new high during the ongoing Rabi season, a demand for its export has gained ground in UP. The export, is seen as the only way to help ease the problem of plenty and also to ensure remunerative prices to farmers. Incidentally, India's overall wheat production is also estimated to go up substantially. This comes at a time, when there is a global slump with...