-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: After vociferous protests from workers' unions, Narendra Modi government's coal ordinance is drawing flak from adivasi villagers of north Chhattisgarh as 20 gram sabhas from three districts of the state have passed resolutions against resumption of mining in 16 coal blocks spread over 2,000 sq km of dense forests which were part of the previous UPA government's 'no go' areas. The opposition could be debilitating for the...

-The Indian Express Just a few years ago, the World Bank in its World Development Report claimed that migration from rural India to urban centres is "natural" and the same should not be interrupted or prevented through schemes like the MGNREGA. This was a shocking statement to all those who know why there is huge and ever-growing migration to cities, not only of the labour class but also of farmers and small...

-Business Standard Workdays under the scheme in 2014 crashed to less than half of previous year's, delay in fund transfers and payment to workers, says rural devt ministry report The former Union rural development minister Nitin Gadkari caused 'psychological' damage to the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGS) with statements questioning the need to continue the scheme across the entire country, the ministry has assessed in its new report. Gadkari was minister...

-Down to Earth The primary health centre (PHC) at Ajara block in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district would handle just eight childbirth cases a year till 2011. Today, it handles over 125 such cases in a year. The health centre became efficient because of a Central government scheme that empowers communities to monitor public health services. In 2010, the residents participated in a jan sunwai (public hearing) session, in which they told senior...

-The Indian Express New Delhi: Vegetables are the noble folk of food world, loved equally by doctors and grandmothers. Vegetarians live off them and meat-eaters are told to live off them. But in Delhi, under every crunchy leaf of radish or the shiny brinjal hide dangerous amounts of pesticides that can slowly kill, shows a new study by JNU. Pritha Chatterjee and Aniruddha Ghosal report how growers, consumers and the authorities may...