Following the intervention of the National human rights Commission (NHRC), the Orissa government has banned the practice of “bartan” system under which upper caste families extract work from barbers and washermen during important family occasions in return for just 15 kg of paddy for the whole year. Thanks to the efforts of petitioner Baghambar Patnaik, since 2006, the age-old practice has ended with the Panchayat Raj Department issuing the notification...

Small-scale farmers can double food production in a decade by using simple ecological methods, according to the findings of a new United Nations study released today, which calls for a fundamental shift towards agroecology as a poverty alleviation measure. “To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efficient farming techniques available,” says Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and...

If women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and markets as men, agricultural production could be increased and the number of hungry people reduced by 100-150 million, FAO said today in its 2010-11 edition of The State of Food and Agriculture report. Yields on plots managed by women are lower than those managed by men, the report said. But this is not because women...

The United States must do more to eliminate discrimination in access to safe drinking water and sanitation, an independent United Nations expert reported today, citing wide disparities that adversely affect people of colour and Native Americans. “I am concerned that several laws, policies and practices, while appearing neutral at face value, have a disproportionate impact on the enjoyment of human rights by certain groups,” said UN independent expert Catarina de Albuquerque,...

NREGA activist Niyamat Ansari was brutally murdered on March 2 and of the eight accused, one person has been arrested so far. The latest attack has prompted Aruna Roy, one of the architects of the RTI and the NREGA to write to Congress President Sonia Gandhi emphasising on the urgency of protecting anti corruption efforts. There are reasons for grave concern. Demanding information, especially at the grassroots, poses a serious threat to...