Inspired by the RTI Act, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is all set to bring in a new legislation aimed at making government officials "accountable to the common man". The Janhit Guarantee Bill, to be unveiled by the BSP supremo on her 55th birthday tomorrow, promises timely delivery of information and documents like birth and death certificates and revenue records to the people, an official said. It also empowers the people to...

When a group of 46 cooks in northern Gujarat—some of whom had been working for up to seven years—demanded full payment for their labour, they were threatened, beaten, then finally thrown out with little more than the clothes they were wearing. The group—which included women and children—were all migrants from a tribal region in southern Rajasthan. They walked for three days without food to get to the nearest train station,...

Worried about admitting your child to school, since you do not have a Birth Certificate? Don’t worry on that score anymore — the state department of public instructions has provided parents a few options, and some other documents could not serve the purpose of the Birth Certificate. From this academic year onward, parents have five options that can be exercised, and schools are bound to accept these documents as proof of...

Malnutrition, illness and abject poverty have taken a severe toll on children in Mumbai's Rafiq Nagar slum. Situated in a vast dumping ground, swarming with flies, and packed with garbage heaps at every step, the destitute colony has seen a series of child deaths since April this year, even as authorities scramble to ascertain their causes.Seven-month old Asif Sheikh from Rafiq nagar slum died on Tuesday. His death comes less...

Over 90 Kilometres south-east of capital Ranchi towards the Chandil dam are 48 villages residing 50,000 people for whom the prevailing drought has turned out to be a boon.The dam is an ambitious World Bank project meant to irrigate fields in Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal. These villages are declared 'to-be submerged villages'. In order to store water up to 180 meters above sea level to fight drought, the state irrigation...