-South Asia Media Through his bloodshot, ruined eyes, ten-year-old Roshan Singh struggles to read his favourite comic book before readying for school in this remote and desolate village along the Indian-Pakistan border. Singh, whom doctors say will soon be blind, has always drunk ground water drawn from communal handpumps that experts say is highly toxic and responsible for maiming scores of residents young and old. "I fear the worst all the time. My...
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'Manual scavenging still practised in developed Gujarat'
-The Times of India AHMEDABAD (Gujarat): The CAG's report on Tuesday revealed that the prohibited practice of carrying night soil is still prevalent in the 'developed state of Gujarat'. The auditor has cited cases listed in the 2011 census report. Manual scavenging was prohibited 21 years ago with Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 coming into force. But in Gujarat, this evil practice goes on even...
More »Wrong numbers: Attack on NREGA is misleading
-The Times of India Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya, hereafter BP, have argued for phasing out the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in favour of cash transfers ("Rural Inefficiency Act", ToI, 23 October). It's surprising-and amusing-that two eminent economists have chosen to make a case based on prior beliefs and some sophomoric wordplay ('mis'leading economists), rather than on the available evidence. A survey by one of us of the empirical literature...
More »Bigger dams, irrigation projects won’t help save Maharashtra’s farmers -Ketaki Ghoge and Sayli Udas Mankikar
-The Hindustan Times Mumbai: In the past two decades, the National Crime Records Bureau has recorded 60,750 farmer suicides in the state. This means more than 3,000 farmers have killed themselves every year, reflecting a deepening agrarian crisis untouched by policies and subsidies doled out by the government. To get the state back on its feet, the new BJP government needs to start from agriculture and allied sectors. In the past...
More »Stubble burning causing air pollution, health problems in parts of Punjab and Haryana, say experts
-PTI Chandigarh: The illegal practice of burning paddy stubble has been going on unabated in some parts of Punjab and Haryana despite a government ban on it causing air pollution and health-related issues, agri-experts said. According to Vice Chancellor of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Dr B S Dhillon, stubble burning is causing multiple problems that include affecting the soil health, besides causing environmental pollution. "Hazy weather was witnessed recently which could have...
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