The Pension Parishad is holding a dharna in Delhi for the rights of elderly since 26 November. It has demanded that a Universal and Non Contributory Old Age Pension System should be established with a minimum dignified amount of monthly pension not less than 50% of minimum wage or Rs 2000/- per month, whichever is higher. Despite several rounds of talk held between the campaign leaders and the Government in...

-The Hindu To have a say in beneficiary selection THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that the government is considering delegation of powers to the grama sabhas to recommend beneficiaries for various welfare programmes of the State and Central governments. The Chief Minister was discussing follow up action with Collectors of eight districts, where mass contact programmes had been held, through a video conference. Mr. Chandy said the grama sabhas were in...

-The Hindu     It will be a decade tomorrow since whistleblower Satyendra Dubey was killed. A tribute. You would have been scared. You would have been scared, when you left your home in the village of Shahpur at 15 in search of a good education and a better life. You would have been scared that first day at the IIT, wondering how you, a village boy from Bihar, would cope with all the...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik government would soon invite applications from people wishing to be included as beneficiaries under the Food Security Act to be implemented in the state from July 2014. Application forms will also be available online. A six-member committee headed by the development commissioner would be constituted to chalk out the modalities for identification of the beneficiaries. Under the provisions of the act, each beneficiary would be entitled...

-Outlook New Delhi: The Election Commission has asked the Delhi government to stall the process for identifying beneficiaries under Food Security scheme till December 5 when the poll process in the national capital will be over. The EC directive came in reply to a request from Delhi government to continue with identification of beneficiaries as the scheme has already been launched in the national capital. Delhi government had launched the scheme in...