-Deccan Herald Dabra is a typical village in rural Haryana. It has narrow lanes with open drains and small houses built of brick and mud. Children play in the dirt while men sit around smoking. Not many outsiders visit this poor farming community. But outside one of the houses, two policemen stand on guard. Inside, a 16-year-old girl sits in one of the rooms surrounded by women. She is the reason the...

-Tehelka Dalit and Tribal activists plan a “Dilli Chalo” campaign demanding an amendment to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act The National Coalition for Strengthening Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act on Thursday 25 October 2012, announced the launch of “Dilli Chalo” a nationwide campaign to pressurise the government to amend the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act. The campaign will culminate...

-The Hindu Women continue to be invisible to planners, despite their high levels of contribution to the national economy, says a UN Women paper on women and forests Some of the present policies in forest management are detrimental to the poor, particularly women, states a UN Women paper by NC Saxena, member National Advisory Council, even as he suggests changes that could ameliorate their condition. Despite economic growth, gender inequalities in “critical human development...

-The Times of India Everyone agrees that India needs to deliver social protection to the aam admi; the forthcoming Food Security Bill is one such attempt. Everyone also agrees that the government service delivery pipelines are riddled with leakages and largescale corruption. Direct cash transfers have been proposed as a way to remedy this defective system. However, as could be expected, the debate has become polarised, with one side believing that cash...

-The Hindu This was discovered during an awareness drive in two Jaipur slums recently Jaipur: The daily struggle of slum dwellers for getting basic amenities and the glaring deficiency in the reach of the much-touted urban poverty alleviation schemes as well as other programmes for welfare of widows, disabled people and destitute children were revealed during an awareness drive launched by two voluntary public service institutions in slum colonies here this week. The...