So why is the UPA hell-bent on killing its unique success story: the NREGA? Here's the inside narrative of the conspiracy. It took 47 days of a protest sit-in at Jaipur to make the state budge(1). It's notable that the objective of this protracted protest was not to coerce the Rajasthan government for an extra share of the state's resources, but to hold the government accountable to the Constitution and its...

The National Advisory Council, headed by Sonia Gandhi, today disapproved the exclusion of domestic workers from the purview of a proposed law for protection of women against sexual harassment at workplaces. The bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha during the winter session, aims to prevent harassment of women at the workplace by implied or overt promise of preferential treatment or threat or interference in work through intimidation. The NAC, which discussed the...

Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has reached a consensus on the final framework of the draft Food Security Bill that aimed to make legal entitlement of foodgrains to the poor. "We have reached a consensus on the final framework of the Food Security Bill," an NAC member said on condition of anonymity. The draft Bill is expected to be made public within 10 days. The NAC discussed its earlier recommendation of...

In view of prevailing cold wave conditions in the state Chief Minister Mayawati has sanctioned Rs 3.12 crore for providing temporary shelter,food, clothes and medical facilities to the poor. The money would be used to provide bonfires, blankets and medical help to the destitutes and the homeless poor people, Government spokesman said here on Thursday. He said state government has provided Rs 1 lakh to each of the 312 tehsils of the...

The rapid growth of global markets has not seen the parallel development of social and economic institutions to ensure balanced, inclusive and sustainable growth. Although we may not have yet reached “the end of history,” globalisation has brought us closer to “the end of geography” as we have known it. The compression of time and space triggered by the Third Industrial Revolution —roughly, since 1980 — has changed our interactions with...