-Newsclick.in CM Mamata Banerjee has started handing over compensation packages, but SKM and other outfits have accused it of bypassing holding of gram sabhas. Kolkata: The Deocha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harisingha (DPDH) coal block under Mohammed Bazar Development Block in Birbhum district is fast becoming a “symbol of the West Bengal government’s high-handedness”. So much so that local residents, a large number of whom are adivasis/santhals, are being cautious in airing their concerns about the proposed...

-Outlook India Just ahead of the state assembly elections in October 2018, the Congress party had promised to bring a social accountability law in the public manifesto for elections. In October 2020, Ratnu Devi of Bikaner completed 86 days under MGNREGA in her local panchayat in Bajju village in the Bikaner district. At present Ratnu has not received 14,000 rupees.  After visiting the local Atal Seva Kendra she learnt that her payments...

-Press release by the Right to Food Campaign Secretariat dated February 23, 2022 * 66 percent respondents said that their income has decreased compared to the pre-pandemic period * 80 percent reported some form of food insecurity, 25 percent reported severe food insecurity * 41 percent said that nutritional quality of their diet deteriorated compared to the pre-pandemic period * 67 percent could not afford cooking gas in the month preceding the survey. * 45...

-The Hindu Many students have vowed not to enter classrooms without their hijabs Bengaluru: Young women wearing religious headscarves tearfully pleading to be allowed entry into schools and colleges with many vowing not to remove their hijabs has raised concerns on the impact this will have on their education. While the case is in the High Court of Karnataka, several writers and activists from the Muslim community and education experts have expressed fear...

-Newsclick.in By doing so, the corporate sector seems to have cautioned the government against expecting a fast rebound in industrial activity, as there is sizeable idle capacity in the absence of consumption demand. Kolkata: Rural stress and funds for the rural job guarantee scheme were surprise additions in the organised corporate sector’s listed points for the post-Budget interaction with the Union government held on February 5 under the aegis of the Confederation...