Various civil society groups and NGOs Thursday came together to oppose the Delhi government’s plan to give cash instead of ration to the city’s poor through the Public Distribution System (PDS). The activists said the government had taken the decision in haste. ‘We had gone to meet (Chief Minister) Sheila Dikshit yesterday, but she did not listen to us at all. Instead, she screamed at us and threatened to put us in...
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Child labourers' plight: Underpaid and overworked by Puja Marwaha
For most people in cities, Labour Day (or May Day, which was on May 1) was just another public holiday that nobody thought too much about. On a day marked to give voice to the rights of the Indian work force, perhaps one ought to consider those who have been forced to join their ranks too soon - child labourers. According to government estimates, an astounding 42.02% of the Indian workforce...
More »Super-sensitive, not to bitter root by Biswanath Roy and Sujan Dutta
Gethi is such an inedible beetroot for most of us that it must be boiled overnight and dried thrice before the bitterness can be cut. Even after that, the faces of children pucker as soon as they put it in the mouth. A gethi looks like a misshapen potato with Dark brown hairy strands that must be plucked clean. The Pahariyas of Borogora village in the lap of the Bagmundi jungles...
More »Next: Supply Side of Corruption by Arun Duggal
Anna Hazare and the civil society won a crucial first battle in the war against corruption. There is a possibility that the Lokpal Bill could be passed by Parliament by August 15. However, that is by no means assured: a number of politicians, a part of section of political establishment and a section of bureaucracy will try to derail the Bill or dilute it so much that it is rendered...
More »Getting above themselves by Varghese K George
The activism of civil society against corruption has caught the imagination of many Indians. Arguments put forward by representatives of the civil society organisations (CSOs) can be summarised as follows: 'All - at least most - politicians, ministers, bureaucrats are corrupt. Voters are incapable of deciding what is good for them. The police, Central Bureau of Investigation and the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, and all other agencies of the State...
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