The Union government on Monday asked the States to prepare a below poverty line (BPL) list by March, census for which is now on, so that the needy are readied to enjoy the benefits to be rolled out under the 12th Five Year Plan. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh hoped the States would prepare the list at the earliest. The Centre would, by December-end, complete its exercise of generating...
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No regard for kids in National Food Security Bill: Activists
-IANS The draft National Food Security Bill, which has been approved by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), has scant regard for children and does not assure their right to food security, activists of the Right to Food campaign said Monday. "It appears that the government does not consider the specific issues related to the food security of children, who form about 40 percent of the population, or the vast problem...
More »MPs demand more wages for MGNREGS workers by K Balchand
Members of Parliament, cutting across party lines, have demanded an increase in the wages and workdays of the beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, one of the flagship programmes of the UPA government, so as to insulate them from the galloping inflation. The demands were made by the members, including those of the ruling Congress-led ruling coalition, at a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee on the...
More »Deconstructing The NAC by Ruchi Gupta
The past couple of months have seen a renewed attack on the National Advisory Council (NAC). The NAC has been decried as an unconstitutional, undemocratic, “super-cabinet” where unaccountable “jholawalas” hatch harebrained schemes guaranteed to run the government aground. Another line of criticism has focused on the process of the formation of the NAC, its space within the Indian Constitution, and its capacity to influence policy. The two criticisms merge with...
More »Right to Food Campaign gives call for ‘action' against draft food Bill by Gargi Parsai
-The Hindu The Right to Food Campaign on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set aside the government draft of the Food Security Bill which “minimises government's obligations, restricts people's entitlements and is devoid of any accountability”. Rejecting the government's draft Bill, the Campaign gave a national call for action. In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the Campaign said the draft Bill approved by the Empowered Group of...
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