-The Tribune ‘High indebtedness, inability to repay loan led to extreme step’ Over 7,300 farm labourers in Punjab have died by suicide between 2000 and 2018. As many as 5,765 of these (79 per cent of total suicides by farm labourers) were because of high indebtedness and inability to repay the loan. An average agricultural labour family in the state has a debt of Rs 76,017 while the agricultural labourer suicide victim family...
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Ensuring trust in the electoral process -Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri
-The Hindu It is critical that the Supreme Court immediately adjudicates on the electoral bonds scheme The Election Commission of India has announced dates for elections to five Legislative Assemblies. It is a matter of grave concern that the petition challenging the electoral bonds scheme, which deals with the vexed issue of election funding, continues to languish in the Supreme Court. The delay in adjudicating on the case filed in September 2017...
More »To cut subsidy bill, Niti paper says lower coverage of food security law -Harikishan Sharma
-The Indian Express Based on the rural and urban coverage ratio, the erstwhile Planning Commission had determined the state-wise coverage ratio using the National Sample Survey Household Consumption Expenditure coverage under food security law Survey data for 2011-12. NITI AAYOG, the government think tank, has recommended reducing the rural and urban coverage under the National Food Security Act, 2013, to 60 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, which it estimates, can...
More »Supreme Court criticises govt for non-reply to Jairam Ramesh’s plea on changes in RTI Act
-The Hindu Court, in Jan. 2020, asked Centre to file reply to plea, which contended that RTI Amendment Act of 2019 and its Rules cripple CIC’s objectivity, independence. The Supreme Court on Monday criticised the Union government for having not filed a reply for over a year to a petition by parliamentarian Jairam Ramesh challenging the amendments made to the Right to Information Act. The court, in January 2020, asked the Centre to...
More »Labour codes need to be drafted keeping in mind realities of informal sector workers -Ileena Roy and Ranjana Das
-The Indian Express These vulnerabilities of the informal sector became even more prominent as the entire country went into a state of suspension due to the lockdown enforced as a state response to the pandemic. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech referred to the implementation of the four labour codes, closing the process that started 20 years ago. She also mentioned a handsome Rs 15,700 crore for MSMEs, more than...
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