Persons with disabilities are the last identity group to enter the workforce, not because their disability comes in the way of their functioning, but because of social and practical barriers that prevent them from joining work, a study on the ‘Employment Rights of Disabled Women in India' carried out by the Society for Disability and Rehabilitation of the National Commission for Women (NCW) has said.The barriers include lack of proper...

Has Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), one of India’s best-known peoples’ movements, run out of steam? Or is it still relevant in its new avatar as a force to reckon with? After all, the NBA has failed to achieve its primary goal of blocking big dams on Narmada, including the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat. The short answer to the question of NBA’s achievement is that it has forced a paradigm...

Maharashtra weeded out 2.9 million bogus ration cards last year, launching an identity verification drive to make the system foolproof. Residents had to provide electoral roll numbers, electricity bills and rent receipts to receive a ration card. Migrants had to present an official document confirming their change in residence. That led to the exclusion of many poor, homeless and migrant families as they lacked the necessary papers. This is the kind...

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday launched a special scheme for the well-being and overall empowerment of adolescent girls. The scheme has been launched as a pilot project in 200 most backward districts. ‘Sabla' or the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Adolescent Girls' would be launched in 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh, 15 in Madhya Pradesh, 12 each in Bihar and Sikkim, 11 in Maharashtra, and 10 in Rajasthan. To be based...

The Union government intends to launch by January end a scheme aimed at improving the status of women as agriculturists and open up opportunities for their empowerment. The scheme, to be taken up by the Ministry of Rural Development, has been named Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP). It will be launched as a sub-component of the renamed, but yet to be launched, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), which was earlier known...