-The Times of India While the participation of women in Indian elections has gradually increased, their presence in Parliament and other governing bodies has continued to remain abysmally low ever since the first elections in 1952, data reveals. Trends indicate that in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha polls, women voters will surpass men. However, trends also reveal that women will remain grossly under-represented in the decision-making process as India continues to hover...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Union cabinet on Thursday approved an ordinance to restore the system of reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs for teaching positions in higher education institutions, with the university or college being considered as one unit instead of treating the department as one. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Ordinance, 2019 will restore the 200-point roster system for faculty recruitment under which quotas for...

-The Hindu Amit Shah, Rahul write to States; RSS outfit demands ordinance The presidents of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rahul Gandhi and Amit Shah, have directed the Chief Ministers of the States ruled by their parties to file a review petition in the Supreme Court over its ruling ordering the eviction of tribals unable to provide sufficient proof of claim to forest land. Mr. Gandhi on Monday said...

-The Hindu Strengthening the MGNREGA would be more prudent than a targeted cash transfer plan like PM-KISAN Rural distress has hit unprecedented levels. According to news reports, unemployment is the highest in 45 years. To allay some misgivings of the distress, one of the announcements in the Budget speech was that “vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land up to 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of...

-The Indian Express Anganwadi workers, teachers, nurses are paid low salaries, their work devalued Frontline workers providing basic services through various government programmes form the backbone of the country’s social welfare system. India’s ability to achieve its SDGs or to have a healthy skilled workforce that contributes towards economic progress or social and human development depends to a large extent on the performance of teachers, nurses, anganwadi workers, panchayat secretaries and...