Important amendment in Right to Free and Compulsory Education Amendment Bill could not be taken up in Rajya Sabha on Friday. The Bill sought to treat children with disabilities as disadvantaged group under the Right to education (RTE) Act. While the Left was keen on the Bill's passage, BJP said there was not enough time to discuss it. The party wanted a four-hour discussion on the Bill, whereas Left said it...
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Folk art shows how women fought for their rights
A large number of rural women used folk art to show how they had fought for National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), public distribution system (PDS), regularization of gram sabhas and issues like untouchability and violence against them. Lauding the efforts of the women drawn from several parts of the male-dominated eastern Uttar Pradesh, Mau district Chief Development Officer B.L. Verma said: 'Women empowerment was central to Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy.' He stressed...
More »Growth as tool to alleviate poverty
The Prime Minister's focus on double-digit growth is not due to any ‘growth mania'. It is for the benefit of the poor. At a recent function for police officers, the Prime Minister observed: “If we don't control Naxalism, we have to say goodbye to our country's ambition to sustain a growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent per annum.” Some commentators (like Prof Prabhat Patnaik of JNU) interpret this (in a...
More »Why agriculture should impact on nutrition and health by Jimoh Babatunde
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) recently in New Delhi, India gathered more than 900 participants for an international conference to examine ways that agriculture can enhance the health and nutritional status of poor people in developing worlds. Scholars, Politicians and activists during the conference tried to exploit the nexus between agriculture, nutrition and health. Most people would say that agriculture is for growing food, and on one level, they are...
More »‘Few in UPA concerned about the plight of dalits' by Suresh Nambath
“While the UPA has focused on bettering the lot of the Dalit community, it is dominated by upper caste Hindus, very few of whom are genuinely concerned about the plight of dalits,” the American Embassy said in a cable sent under the name of Ambassador David Mulford on June 22, 2005 ( 35177: confidential), and accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks. ‘Little upward mobility' “This ensures that dalits will continue to be...
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