kolkata : At a time when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is promising a revamp of the public distribution system and “food grains for all”, various right groups and unions working in the PDS sector are pressing for doing away with the system of private dealership of ration shops to stop pilferage of food grains. Representatives of Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, Sramjivi Samnaway Committee, West Bengal Government Employees Union (Nabaparjaya), ICDS...

Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has proposed an “ACTIONS” plan as the guiding principle for the 12th Five Year Plan, putting off the Planning Commission's suggestion to axe Centrally sponsored schemes and give States a free hand to chart their path of development. After his meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Saturday, Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu of the discussion they had on...

The Delhi Jal Board, MCD, NDMC and other such agencies will have to ensure minimum safety and health standard for sewerage and other unorganised workers by giving them free medical treatment, thanks to a Supreme Court verdict. Families of workers employed by civic agencies such as the Delhi Jal Board and Municipal Corporation of Delhi will henceforth be entitled to immediate ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 lakh. A bench of justices GS...

The National Advisory Council amends its draft Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, but some activists are still dissatisfied. THE National Advisory Council's (NAC) draft Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill has elicited great expectations and also disappointment within the political class and civil society ( Frontline, July 1, 2011). With its deadline seeking comments from civil society (June 4) having passed, it...

The Supreme Court, while holding that the prohibition imposed by the Centre on non-iodised salt for human consumption is unconstitutional, has however, said the ban will continue for six months. A Bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and B. Sudershan Reddy (since retired) directed the Centre to review its policy of compulsory universal salt iodisation programme within six months. The programme should be reviewed with reference to the latest inputs and research...