The gruesome murder of NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari has shocked the progressive civil society and political groups in the country. According to reports (one, two), Niyamat Ansari had exposed a case of corruption in NREGA and an FIR was lodged against a former BDO and another Panchayat Sevak of Manika block, Latehar (Jharkhand). On 2nd March 2011, Niyamat Ansari was picked from his house and beaten to death. The reports...
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Court Challenges Dubious Environmental Impact Reports by Ranjit Devraj
India’s Supreme Court has questioned clearances to industries on the basis of environment impact assessments (EIAs) carried out by private consultants in the pay of project proponents. A special bench of the court led by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, that is hearing a petition challenging approvals granted to the French company Lafarge to mine limestone, likened the practice to "paying the piper to call the tune." Kapadia’s bench noted that every report...
More »United action by TK Rajalakshmi
Trade unions of all hues join forces in an unprecedented manner and present a charter of demands to the government. IN a rare show of unity, and for the first time since Independence, around one lakh workers affiliated to eight central trade unions and national industrial federations, including the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and the trade unions of the Left parties, came out on the streets of New...
More »Co-crusader shifted from house to govt building
Bhukhan Singh, a close associate of MGNREGA activist Neeyamat Ansari who had been beaten to death on the night of March 2, has been shifted to a government building following "serious threats" to his life. Singh, the co crusader of Ansari, has been put up in a room in the Manika block office amid tight security. He too hails from Jeruwa village like Ansari. Latehar SP Kuldip Dwivedi said the step was...
More »CAG gets a say in NREGS social audit by Subodh Ghildiyal
The Centre will give CAG a place in social audit of rural job scheme and direct the states to set up directorates to train auditors from civil society. A nominee of CAG would be present in social audits that gram sabhas would conduct twice a year. CAG would also do an annual audit as part of its mandate. Coupled with the rigour of CAG's accounting, the exercise would also bring in...
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