Public hearing throws light on discrimination, violence When Norti Bai, sarpanch of Harmara in Rajasthan, refused to give in to the demands of upper caste men in her village, her daughter-in-law Ram Peari was branded a “witch.” The villagers called for Peari's “social boycott” and excommunication. In Alwar district in the State, Sunita Bairwa of Bahedakhah was assaulted because the upper castes were unhappy about a Dalit being elevated to sarpanch. These...
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Panel wants a couple's assets to be treated as joint property by Mahendra Kumar Singh
A high-level government panel has suggested that all movable and immovable assets acquired by a married couple or a couple living together be classified as joint property which would be divided equitably in the event of separation or desertion. The Planning Commission's working group on Women's Agency and Empowerment wants a comprehensive legislation - 'Right to Marital Property Act' - to be brought in which would be applicable to all communities. The...
More »Six years of the rural jobs scheme
-Live Mint This week marks the completion of six years of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Six years is not a long period of time for any meaningful evaluation of a programme of such nature. However, even within this short period of time, the programme has attracted considerable attention. One part of this is the criticism of how the programme involved considerable leakages, did not create productive...
More »India deadliest place in world for girl child by Rukmini Shrinivasan
-The Times of India It's official - India is the most dangerous place in the world to be a baby girl. Newly released data shows that an Indian girl child aged 1-5 years is 75% more likely to die than an Indian boy, making this the worst gender differential in child mortality for any country in the world. Infant (0-1 years) and child (1-5 years) mortality are declining in India and across...
More »VEG OR NON-VEG? INDIA AT THE CROSSROADS
Is the majority of India veg or non-veg? Well, contrary to impression, the land of Gandhi and Buddha is predominantly non-veg. It may well have been majority vegetarian country at some point of time but the new trend is that more and more people are taking to non-vegetarian diets. A new policy paper, “Veg or Non-Veg? India at the Crossroads,” published by Brighter Green, a New York-based public policy action...
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