-The Hindu The intention behind the move to make the CAG a multimember body is not to activate the Shunglu Committee’s report but a desire to clip the auditor’s wings During the last few days there have been many comments on the report that the government of India was considering a proposal to make the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) a multimember body. The move has been widely seen as...

-The Hindu Kerala’s Kudumbashree network and the rural employment guarantee scheme have converged to provide a unique model of empowerment An incredible story of empowerment has been unfolding in the wake of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) programme in the State of Kerala. This is the story of how a socially engineered convergence of the scheme with panchayati raj institutions and the State sponsored community network of poor...

-The Indian Express Fifteen-year-old Altaf Hussain crouches effortlessly and heads into what looks like a black hole. Dragging a large wooden cart behind him, he disappears into the gaping darkness within seconds. After what seems like an endless wait but lasts just half an hour, he emerges from the hole with a cart laden with dark, glittering coal. The head of this group of 30 is Abu Kalam Mia. The 27-year-old ‘sardar’,...

-The Hindu The Union Cabinet has cleared major amendments in the law relating to construction workers that would benefit over 88.10 lakh of them. Talking to The Hindu here after the meeting, Union Labour & Welfare Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said the salient features of the amendments include removing the clause that construction workers should have worked a minimum of 90 days to register with the labour welfare boards set up in various...

-The Hindu In forestry jobs equal pay is still a distant dream for women Women are preferred by the forestry staff and contractors for certain forestry operations, like nursery work, transplanting and tendu leaf collection. The work is either contracted on a daily wage-rate or a piece-rate basis. However, women often get lower wages than men for similar work, are not paid regularly and are subjected to harassment if they complain. In a...