-The Hindustan Times Mahatma Gandhi urged us, in our moments of doubt, to recall the face of the poorest person we may have seen and ask ourselves whether the step we are contemplating is likely be of any use to him or her. It is in this spirit that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was launched. It is perhaps the most ambitious social security and public works programme...
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Rajasthan gives people right to pink-slip babus -Anindo Dey
-The Times of India JAWAJA (AJMER): The complaints, like always, were many. But the tables had been turned. At the receiving end were government officers as people crowded around demanding an explanation for being denied their right. It was their day of hearing. A motley group of villagers thrust 'pink slips' towards the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) demanding to know why they were being denied the Re 1 a kg wheat promised by...
More »Activists slam political parties for anti-RTI stand -Himanshi Dhawan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Civil society members and RTI activists sharply criticized political parties for their reluctance to accept the Central Information Commission (CIC) order bringing them under the RTI Act. In a reflection of their cautious stance, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) - the main applicant who had sought information on donors to political parties - filed a caveat on Tuesday with the court to prevent any...
More »Aruna Roy presses govt for pension to all unorganised labour
-The Business Standard Having quit the National Advisory Council (NAC), Aruna Roy of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (MKSS) will intensify the movement to get minimum wages countrywide under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and a Rs 1,000 a month pension for unorganised labourers. She will also press the government to make it mandatory to have a pre-legislation process for all bills that the government proposes to introduce...
More »Laws for citizens, and by them too -Ruchi Gupta and Nikhil Dey
-The Indian Express Institutionalising a mandatory process of consultation and dialogue would democratise not just law-making, but the state itself The formal institutions of India's parliamentary democracy have provided little space for citizens' participation in the making of laws. This has not, however, prevented citizens and citizens' groups from making significant attempts to watch, critique and contribute to the process. In fact, in recent years, it is clear that the lack of...
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