-The Economic Times Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to re-consider the idea of creating a new category under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, for the Rural employment scheme. He has said that the revisit can be done even as the special leave petition (SLP) process moves forward. The Centre has already decided to file a SLP in the Supreme Court against the Karnataka HC's s...
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Power of literacy by Aleesha Mary Joseph
Most of the respondents in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala prefer an effective PDS to cash transfer. THE survey of the public distribution system (PDS) in nine States, of which I was a part in Himachal Pradesh (Sirmaur district), Uttar Pradesh (Jaunpur district) and Kerala (Wayanad district), came as an eye-opener to me on many counts. If Himachal Pradesh stood out for the innocence of its people, Uttar Pradesh...
More »Understanding the PDS by Jean Dreze and Reetika Khera
A survey in nine States shows that they have quietly revived and expanded their public distribution system. AT a time when the Union Cabinet cleared the draft of the national food security Bill after dilly-dallying over it comes a compelling piece of information: many State governments have quietly revived and expanded the public distribution system in their States. That, at any rate, is one of the main findings of a...
More »Too little, too late by Harsh Mander
If we get it right, the Food Security Bill carries the potential to alter the destinies of millions of India's poor and disadvantaged people, by assuring them as a legal right sufficient food to live with dignity. It was approved by the Cabinet after over two years of intense, sometimes fractious debate. Opinion in the Cabinet itself was reportedly divided around the proposed law. Gaping divisions persist, even as the...
More »Jairam wants Jharkhand to expedite Saranda initiative by K Balchand
State has been directed to set up a separate development authority The Centre has asked the Jharkhand government to show urgency on both security and development matters in the Left-Wing-Extremism-affected Saranda forest. The State has been directed to set up a separate development authority to carry forward its initiative to provide basic amenities to 7,000 tribal families in the forest, and demanded early allocation of land for setting up 24 more CRPF...
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