-The Telegraph New Delhi: The cabinet gave its nod today to two policies aimed at providing employment and housing to the urban poor. Under the National Urban Livelihood Mission, the government has set aside Rs 6,505 crore to spend on generating employment for the urban poor till 2017. Also, Rs 35,810 crore would be used under the Rajiv Awas Yojana to make housing available to the urban poor by the year 2022. The...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Understanding the poverty line-Mihir Shah
-The Hindu What it signifies, what it does not tell us and what it will definitely not be used for Great shrillness has marked the current furore over the Planning Commission's latest poverty estimates. No surprise, therefore, that understanding and wisdom have flowed in an inverse proportion. Surprising and sad, however, is the fact that some political leaders have at times spoken in a manner deeply hurtful to the aam aadmi and...
More »Hungry mothers, starving children-Mathangi Subramanian
-The Hindu Women are essential for the success of schemes like the mid-day meal programme. Improving their wages and working conditions would be better than blaming them when things go wrong. Mahatma Gandhi once declared, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." By this yardstick, India does not fare well. Consider recent headlines alone: 23 Bihari children die after eating poisoned midday meals at their schools. Six-year-old...
More »They still clean toilets and can't bear their own stink -Sukanya Shantha
-The Indian Express Pandharpur: Jaya Waghela, 52, spends more than an hour cleaning herself every morning. But the soap and water cannot wash off the stench of human faeces she cleans everyday with her broom at 600-odd public toilets along the banks of the river Bhima in Pandharpur district of Maharashtra. "The stench is so overbearing that it has killed my appetite," says Waghela, who has stayed away from her kitchen since...
More »Nuclear threat to Badopal wildlife -Bhaskar Mukherjee
-The Times of India BADOPAL (FATEHABAD): The undulating semi-arid landscape of Badopal village, about 10km from Fatehabad town, is a haven for blackbucks. About 500 blackbucks, deers, neelgai (blue bull) and other species inhabit the area, which has abundant food and other sources necessary for the survival of these animals. However, this habitat faces an uncertain future ever since Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) acquired around 185 acres of land...
More »