-Newsclick.in Unbridled exploitation of workers under the supervision of BJP governments has led to widespread anger and discontent, which is likely to be reflected in the Assembly polls. While Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are gearing up for Assembly elections, the two BJP-ruled states have also been at the forefront of actively overseeing the worsening  condition of industrial workers. Besides administering meagre rates of minimum wage, the two states have introduced a slew of...

-The Hindu The Indian education system would be a good place to start with reforms, says the development economist Jean Drèze is possibly the world’s most famous Belgian-Indian. He has lived in India since 1979, and is an Indian citizen. As a development economist and activist, he has helped draft some startlingly pro-people legislations, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, and the National Food Security Act, 2013....

-The Hindu We won’t allow anyone to cut our trees, say the women of Balarampur village For three generations now, and spanning 40 years, Chaturi Sahu, 70, has been unfailingly sending one male member from her family to patrol the nearby Jhinkargadi forest to ensure that its trees and shrubs are untouched. Year after year, her father-in-law, husband and son, who are part of the foot soldiers of Balarampur, a nondescript village in...

-Networkideas.org In recent times, the clamour for formalising economic activity, or shrinking its unorganised component and expanding the organised, has been heard from diverse sources. There are those who want formalisation to occur because the unorganised sector is seen as being largely outside the direct and indirect tax net, depriving the government of much needed resources. Hence, for example, one feature seen as favouring the Goods and Services Tax regime is...

  There is a list available with the Right to Food Campaign (http://www.righttofoodcampaign.in) – a decentralised network of civil society activists and experts who are working together voluntarily for ensuring food and nutrition security – which shows that 56 persons died between May, 2015 and March, 2018 on account of hunger and starvation despite India having passed the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 2013. The RTF campaign has compiled the...