Some 10 lakh to 30 lakh migrant labourers take up skilled or semi-skilled work in Kerala. THE State Bank of India has a branch near the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram, in a by-lane on the avenue leading to the Kowdiar Palace, the residence of the former maharajas of Travancore. It is a cosy little place on the first floor of a nondescript building, and the clientele includes the rich and...

Taking forward the pro-poor schemes of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy announced in style his New Year gift: a housing scheme for the urban poor. With a proposed budget of Rs.5,000 crore, the project, ‘Rajiv Awaas Yojna', will ensure pucca houses to the poor in every slum across the State. Announcing the scheme amid much fanfare during a surprise visit to a slum in the city's outskirts, the...

NRHM needs to revitalise systems, monitor their functional performance and investigate their impact on the indices of health. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in 2005 to bring about a dramatic improvement in the health system and health status of people in rural India. It seeks to provide universal access to health care, which is affordable, equitable, and of good quality. It aims at making architectural corrections to basic...

“Show sensitivity to recognise disaffection among tribal societies” “Terrorism can become an internal intruding problem also” Violence against women and elderly is growing: Prime Minister Terrorism, Naxalism, communalism, and management of law in metropolitan cities have thrown up immense challenges to the law and order machinery, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cautioned over the week end . Pointing out that the tribal areas of central India were in the grip of Naxalite menace, Dr. Singh...

Large queues outside the ration shop across Maharashtra could become a thing of the past, if the State Government manages to implement a new scheme for distributing foodgrains in the vicinity of people's houses. Under the scheme, the two-and-a-half crore ration card holders registered under the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the State, instead of getting a monthly quota of grains from the ration shop, will get three, six or 12...