-NDTV NREGA, today celebrating its 10th anniversary, has received a hostile reception from the current political dispensation. The Rajasthan Chief Minister questioning the need for a law, the then Rural Development minister's suggestion to limit NREGA to a few districts, and the Prime Minister's speech in Parliament in 2015 reveal the BJP's hostility and double standards (NREGA was passed unanimously in 2005). Yet, it would be wrong to lay the entire blame...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Women desert rural labour force, Tamil Nadu breaks the trend -B Sivakumar
-The Times of India CHENNAI: Women in rural areas are increasingly withdrawing from the country's labour force. This trend is particularly evident in states like Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh where women have opted out of the labour force over the years. This is more in check in states like Tamil Nadu where the difference in gender gap between 2004 and 2011 is 8. In Karnataka it is 16 while in...
More »Cess proceeds in a black hole
-The Hindu The National Democratic Alliance government has just introduced a cess of 0.5 per cent on all taxable services for the Swachh Bharat campaign. In February 2016, it will introduce a 2 per cent cess on airfares for all domestic flyers except those flying to remote locations, and international travellers. This cess is meant to fund losses that airlines may incur in connecting to hinterland locations. The Central government loves...
More »Rs. 1.4 lakh crore cess money lies idle -TCA Sharad Raghavan
-The Hindu The funds collected can be used only for the designated purpose and cannot be diverted More than Rs. 1.4 lakh crore of funds collected by the government under various cesses for purposes as varied as higher education, road development and the welfare of Construction Workers are lying unutilised, shows an analysis by The Hindu of a Comptroller and Auditor-General report on government finances and answers by Ministers in the Lok...
More »Mintu Devi’s magic wand -Priyanka Kotamraju
-The Hindu Business Line As the Right to Information Act completes 10 years, we examine how RTI has changed people’s lives, become a byword for democracy, and helped alter the relationship between citizen and state Mintu Devi’s relationship with the ration shop changed the day she filed an RTI. In the jhuggis of New Seemapuri, situated on the northeastern edge of Delhi, she is a legend. The 37-year-old mother of four is...
More »