Even as Maoists continue to pose a threat to the government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday urged panchayats to play a big role in helping the Centre tackle the rebels by working more effectively and ensuring administrative transparency. Inaugurating a conference to celebrate ‘National Panchayati Raj Day' under the auspices of the Ministry of the Panchayati Raj here on Saturday, Dr. Singh said that if Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) functioned...
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Stop Operation Green Hunt, Start Dialogue with the Local People
Interim Observations of the Jury of Independent People’s Tribunal on Land Acquisition, Resource Grab and Operation Green Hunt The Independent People’s Tribunal on Land Acquisition, Resource Grab and Operation Green Hunt (organised by a collective of civil society groups, social movements, activists, academics and concerned citizens) was held in New Delhi from April 9 to 11, 2010. Its jury comprised retired Supreme Court judge Justice P.B. Sawant, retired Bombay High Court...
More »NREGA may be linked to skill development by Ruhi Tewari
The ministry of rural development is looking to relax its norms so as to be able to extend assistance to the poor segments of the population who are not at present officially classified as living below the poverty line (BPL). It is going to do so by linking eligibility for the only Centrally sponsored scheme investing in skill development of the BPL population to the government’s marquee rural development initiative under...
More »Gross Violation of Tribal Rights: Independent People’s Tribunal
By the end of the third day (i.e. 11th April, 2010) of the The Independent People’s Tribunal that took place at Constitutional Club between 9 and 11 April, 2010, Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Sawant, while concluding, said that participatory democracy has been lacking in India. Democracy can never be equated with elections only. The jury during the 3-day long People’s Tribunal heard the testimonies of a large number of...
More »Final draft Bill denies food security as a right by Anil Padmanabhan and Liz Mathew
The draft food security legislation readied for cabinet’s approval is much narrower in scope than what was initially envisaged and, hence, stops short of assuring an entitlement as had been previously pledged. The final draft Bill which has been approved by the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) and reviewed by Mint restricts coverage only to poor citizens, confines it to the supply of 25kg of wheat and rice, does not lock...
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