-The Financial Express As cuts in social sector spending in the forthcoming Union Budget are widely anticipated, the focus will be on two of the biggest flagship schemes - the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, both with individually high budget allocations. MGNREGA, launched by the Congress-led UPA government in 2006, has been in the midst of controversy this year, with the NDA government being accused...

-The Financial Express The Supreme Court's direction comes at a time when the Modi government appears to be have a re-think on the Aadhaar card scheme. (Reuters) The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Narendra Modi government to clear its stand on whether it intends to continue with the UPA government's plan to allow Aadhar as proof of identity for direct transfer of cash for social welfare schemes. Amid a fresh PIL challenging...

-The Indian Express Just a few years ago, the World Bank in its World Development Report claimed that migration from rural India to urban centres is "natural" and the same should not be interrupted or prevented through schemes like the MGNREGA. This was a shocking statement to all those who know why there is huge and ever-growing migration to cities, not only of the labour class but also of farmers and small...

-The Indian Express The lynching of a tea estate owner in Jalpaiguri last month has stirred up trouble in the already edgy tea gardens of north Bengal, where lockouts, labour unrest and poverty form a volatile mix. It's all quiet at Labour Lines, the workers' quarters of Sonali Tea Estate in Jalpaiguri. It has just been two days since Rajesh Jhunjhunwala, the 45-year-old owner of the tea gardens, was lynched by a...

Far from being dead and gone, slavery exists in many forms and is flourishing. A disturbing report on modern slavery compiles facts and figures and documents data about new forms of slavery all over the world. Even more disturbing is the fact that India figures in very high on slavery index. It says that almost 61% of those living in modern slavery are in 5 countries: India, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan...