More things change more they remain the same! UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has given her full support; two Congress chief ministers have written to the Prime Minister; a High Court (A.P) has ruled that the current wage rate violated the Minimum Wages Act 1948 --- but the rural workers are still getting the same old rate. When the MGNREGA workers lifted their 47-day dharna at Jaipur after the Centre and...
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Abhijeet Sen, Member, Planning Commission interviewed by Rupashree Nanda
Abhijeet Sen, Member, Planning Commission talks about the many contentious issues surrounding the Right to Food Act. Does India have enough grain, is it willing to pledge resources, or is it simply anxious to limit its commitments. In fact, why have a Right to Food at all? Rupashree Nanda: Sir, the many drafts of the ambitious legislation "Right To Food", have been disappointing. The Planning Commission note is almost a let...
More »Consider concerns over Jaitapur nuclear project: CPI
The Communist Party of India on Wednesday asked the Centre to take into account public demonstrations in Maharashtra against the setting up of nuclear power plants there and raised environmental issues connected with the Jaitapur project.It urged the government to make public the contract signed between French and Indian nuclear power companies.Demanding that the government review the environmental clearance to the Jaitapur plant, the CPI also flagged issues of public...
More »Food Security Bill panel's report to be awaited by Gargi Parsai
Accelerating the process of framing a National Food Security Bill, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday convened a high-level meeting with his senior Cabinet colleagues to discuss aspects of the Bill and the recommendations made by the National Advisory Council (NAC).At the centre of the discussions was a letter written by NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi to the Prime Minister on merging the Rural Development Ministry's exercise for identification of the...
More »States must pay minimum wages to workers under NREGA: Pronab Sen by Sreelatha Menon
Principal Advisor to Planning Commission Pronab Sen, who is heading a committee on wages, has said states are bound to pay prevailing minimum wages to workers under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. His view contradicts the stand taken by the rural development ministry, which had said that NREGA exempts itself from other laws including the Minimum Wages Act and hence the Centre is not obliged to reimburse states according to...
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