-FirstPost.com It's a daily scene at the busy Gariahat crossing in Kolkata. Traffic is barreling down in all directions. Minibuses make screeching right turns at breakneck speed. The tramline in the middle of the street has been dug up and is a giant crater occupying half the road, marked by corrugated metal walls and little red flags. Taxis and autos dodge buses to try and squeeze by the construction onto a...
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Dipa Sinha, a right to food campaigner interviewed by Elizabeth Roche
-Live Mint The right to food campaigner talks about the importance of the Bill in an interview The National Food Security Bill (NFSB) is just a signature away from becoming law after being passed by the Rajya Sabha on Monday. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on 26 August and needs the President's signature to be enacted. Critics have dismissed the proposed legislation as a drain on India's resources. Dipa Sinha,...
More »Keeping political parties out of RTI ambit on Cabinet's agenda today -Himanshi Dhawan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Political parties will be out of the purview of the RTI Act with a proposed amendment that is likely to be taken up by the Union Cabinet on Thursday. The move comes even as several prominent civil activists have petitioned PM Manmohan Singh urging him not to go ahead with the amendments without consultation. According to sources, the government plans to amend the definition of public...
More »A misnomer called food security -Charan Singh and Arvind Virmani
-The Indian Express The proposed bill makes false promises. The need is to directly address problems of drinking water availability, sanitation, maternal health and childcare The Food Security Bill (2013, FSB) promulgated recently by an ordinance is expected to be debated in Parliament soon. The intention behind the FSB is noble, to eradicate hunger from the country, but the means adopted need serious reconsideration. FSB, under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS),...
More »Hungry mothers, starving children-Mathangi Subramanian
-The Hindu Women are essential for the success of schemes like the mid-day meal programme. Improving their wages and working conditions would be better than blaming them when things go wrong. Mahatma Gandhi once declared, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." By this yardstick, India does not fare well. Consider recent headlines alone: 23 Bihari children die after eating poisoned midday meals at their schools. Six-year-old...
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