-Down to Earth A Parliamentary Standing Committee blamed Agriculture Ministry’s skewed policy for the inequality in fertiliser usage The Parliamentary Standing Committee on agriculture has recommended formation of a “Pesticide Development Authority” to ensure balanced use of chemical fertilisers in the wake of declining agricultural productivity. The 29th report, called “Impact of chemical fertilizers and Pesticides on agriculture and allied sectors in the country”, was tabled in Parliament by the committee. The...

-Press Statement from Right to Education Forum Lok Sabha has passed today Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012 and allowed work for children below the age of 14 years in family enterprises is a regressive move. RTE Forum, a coalition of ten thousand grass-root organizations, people’s movement, educationists and teachers organizations, has said that  “Today is black day for the millions of Indian children; they will now be deprived...

The education level among the disabled stands far below that of the general population. Latest data from the Census 2011 confirms this. It shows that only 54.5 percent of the disabled aged seven years or above could read and write with understanding. (Please see table 1). As per the Census 2011, the population of disabled in the country is 2.68 crore, out of which about 1.22 crore are illiterate and 1.46...

-The Indian Express Mining has the distinction of being the most dangerous profession in India. Industry insiders concede that official numbers could be much lower than the actual deaths that take place deep inside the mines. Progressive improvements in the safety standard of India’s coal mines notwithstanding, every ten days last year there was a mining fatality in the country. And every third day last year, on an average, there was...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The women and child development ministry (WCD) has written to the Rajya Sabha seeking to withdraw its response on marital rape describing it as an "oversight." The fresh response that the ministry is likely to put before Parliament is that the issue is under law commission's consideration. WCD minister Maneka Gandhi's response to a Parliament question in Rajya Sabha terming marital rape as a concept unsuited...