-HuffingtonPost.in In the backdrop of workers taking to the streets on Labour Day to protest against their status, here is why the government's rural jobs guarantee programme presents an alarming picture today. Declining expenditure Central Government expenditure on NREGA declined from Rs 40,100 crores in 2010-11 to Rs 38,597 crores in 2014-5. In real terms, this means a decline of about 30% over four years. As a ratio of GDP, Central Government expenditure...
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Govt’s stand on marital rape stirs debate among lawyers -Swati Deshpande
-The Times of India MUMBAI: The Centre's stand against making marital rape a criminal offence saw legal bigwigs take a divided stand. Some like the former Union law minister, the foremost legal mind on criminal law Ram Jethmalani and former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas supported the Centre's view that the law must not be changed, while legal luminary Soli Sorabjee said it was time to make rape within marriage a...
More »A glass half empty for Adivasis -Brinda Karat
-The Hindu The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill 2015 contains no provisions for consent from tribals for mining operations, but strengthens the rights of private sector mining companies Even as countrywide protests against the land ordinance gain momentum, Adivasi communities living in mineral-rich areas are apprehensive of what awaits them as the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2015 (MMDRA) has received presidential assent and the government has drafted Rules...
More »Killing a country’s ecology -Colin Gonsalves
-The Hindu The Environment Minister insists on clearing all hydro projects, even when the government itself earlier agreed that the Himalayas must be avoided for development work. A battle of epic proportions between the hydroelectric power companies and the people of Uttarakhand has now culminated with the struggle shifting to the office of the Prime Minister of India. It began with the extraordinary and far-sighted 2014 decision of the Supreme Court in...
More »CIC delayed is spirit of RTI denied -Shyamlal Yadav
-The Indian Express Files already piled up on the Chief Information Commissioner’s desk could take up to 2020 to clear. Delay in appointing the CIC hurts the objectives of both the RTI Act and the PM’s pledge of good governance. The RTI Act, 2005 provided for a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions to deal with appeals and complaints against public authorities. Section 12 of the RTI Act states, “The Central...
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