-The Hindu A forum representing single women has prepared a charter of demands pitching for enhanced budgetary allocation so that schemes such as monthly pension and benefits for care-givers can be framed for them. Their call comes at a time five States prepare to vote during Assembly elections and when there are nearly six months left for general elections. The National Forum for Single Women’s Rights (NFSWR) has also demanded that the...

-Down to Earth Farmers worldwide face existential threat as milk prices slump but dairy processing giants are making a windfall. Down To Earth travels to Germany, Kenya and several Indian states to take stock of the global crisis Call it the fallout of faulty farm policies of the rich or simply a demand-supply gap, dairy farmers across the world are crying for help as global milk prices slump. In India, the biggest...

-The Hindu A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking its intervention to bring dignity to “India’s invisible workforce in the informal sector” — the domestic workers. The petition filed by NGO Common Cause along with social activist Aruna Roy and the National Platform for Domestic Workers, said: “Latent classism and lack of education make domestic workers prone to violence and abuse at the hands of their employers and placement...

-Newsclick.in A combination of fund squeeze and political aversion has deprived lakhs of people from getting MGNREGS work, even though wages are very low. As the job crisis rages unabated across the country, demand for work under the rural jobs guarantee programme (MGNREGS – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) has risen dramatically in the past few years. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the two big states where polling for Assembly...

-Newsclick.in Unbridled exploitation of workers under the supervision of BJP governments has led to widespread anger and discontent, which is likely to be reflected in the Assembly polls. While Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are gearing up for Assembly elections, the two BJP-ruled states have also been at the forefront of actively overseeing the worsening  condition of industrial workers. Besides administering meagre rates of minimum wage, the two states have introduced a slew of...