-Hindustan Times Poor people in rural India may get 90% more funds to build their houses with the government planning to revamp the rural housing scheme, Indira Awas Yojna (IAY). The scheme — likely to be redesigned as the national Grameen Awas Mission — currently offers beneficiaries Rs 70,000 to build a house and Rs 8,000 for a toilet. The Centre is planning to hike this allocation to up to Rs 1.48...
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IRCTC plans water vending machines in stations -Sanjay Vijayakumar
-The Hindu Tenders to open by July 16, installation to start by September The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is in the process of rolling out tender to set up 5,000 water vending machines across 1,200 railway stations. “This would enable passengers to buy water for Rs. 5 a litre, Rs. 3 for half a litre and Rs. 1 per glass. Passengers can buy water through cash, coins and smart cards,”...
More »In India, no toilets for women -Arindam Chakrabarti
-The Hindu A young girl in Jharkhand committed suicide because her father refused to build a toilet for her. When will the Indian male’s insensitivity to women’s basic needs change? Indian men urgently need basic ethical education. Since the 19th century, women’s education has been a progressive obsession with enlightened Indian social reformers. Although much remains to be done to get anywhere close to equal access to education for the genders, there...
More »Nearly 100 Crore Bill for Swachh Bharat Ads, Reveals RTI -Sandeep Phukan
-NDTV New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, has cost thrown up an ad bill of nearly Rs. 100 crore, according to information revealed through a Right to Information or RTI application. The government has spent 94 crore only on print, radio and television ads to promote the cleanliness mission that PM Modi launched on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary October 2 last year. The BJP-led government's bill matches...
More »Manual scavenging still a reality -Vidya Venkat
-The Hindu Startling facts emerge from census; Maharashtra tops the list The practice of manual scavenging, officially banned since decades in India, continues with impunity in several States. The latest Socio-Economic Caste Census data released on July 3 reveals that 1, 80, 657 households are engaged in this degrading work for a livelihood. Maharashtra, with 63,713, tops the list with the largest number of manual scavenger households, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,...
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