-Press release by Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) dated 1st February, 2020 New Delhi, February 1st 2020: A thorough analysis of the Budget shows that even though the Budget speech spoke much about Agriculture and Rural sector and a 16-point program, the allocations for the Rural Economy were in fact slashed in this Budget compared to previous year. The Budget allocation for Agriculture, Allied sectors and Irrigation in 2020-21...

-The Hindu The provisions that empower the government to carry out such an exercise smack of arbitrariness On November 20, 2019 the Union Home Minister, Mr. Amit Shah, answered a starred question in the Rajya Sabha thus: “Preparation of National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) is governed by the provisions of Section 14A of The Citizenship Act, 1955 and The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules 2003....

-Press release by National Alliance of Peoples' Movements  dated 28 November, 2019 In yet another of its egregious legislative misadventures, the BJP Government with support from some other parties, passed the regressive 'Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights)' Bill, in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, despite wide-spread opposition by members of the transgender, intersex and gender non-confirming communities, seeking referral of the Bill to a Select Committee. We have all been witness to...

-The Hindu Surveys, including the recently leaked one on consumer expenditure, point to the economy’s dire state How fast has India grown lately? And, what are the yardsticks on which the country’s performance is being measured? These have remained contentious questions. Following the last decade’s boom, the economy was slowing after 2011-2012, but apparently turned around under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime. Until very recently, the government claimed the economic success...

-Hindustan Times Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka have written to Centre seeking a relaxation of the rule restricting employment to manual labour because large parts of these 3 states have rocky terrain. New Delhi: At least three states have asked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to allow the use of machines in work done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which is restricted to manual labour,...