-The Hindu They vow to stay put in Delhi till their demands are met Reeling under price rise and dipping returns for their produce, thousands of farmers from all over the country poured into the capital on Monday to start a mahapanchayat, demanding, among other things, a farmers’ income commission to guarantee a minimum Livelihood income. Opposing diversion of farmland for other purposes, they wanted the government to impose a moratorium on land...

-Outlook Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due next year, the UPA government has finalised a draft Bill for providing homes to the homeless in rural areas. The draft of the National Right to Homestead Bill, 2013, prepared by the Rural Development ministry, is almost ready for inter-ministerial consultation, official sources said today According to the eleventh plan document, an estimated 13 to 18 million families in rural India are landless, of which...

-The Hindu Asks municipal bodies to halt vendor eviction drives Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken on Wednesday said the much-awaited Street Vendors (Livelihood Protection and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill will be passed in the current session of Parliament. He was speaking at the street vendors’ Parliament, organised by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), at Jantar Mantar here to press for the enactment of...

-PTI Government is all set to make its public housing programme for rural poor more accountable at panchayat level with new draft guidelines suggesting "proactive" disclosure of details of beneficiaries and making social audit of the scheme a must. The draft guidelines issued by the Rural Development Ministry say that the implementation of Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) should be informed to the local people through wall paintings or notice boards at the...

-The Economic Times A balance between the need to unleash animal spirits and the larger issues of ethical governance is essential for the country to move ahead, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh tells ET in an exclusive interview. * Is unleashing animal spirits still the main focus of the government? Unleashing the animal spirits is all very well but it has to be in an ethical framework. Markets is all about...