The UID in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act may simplify the administrator's task, but will not make a poor man's task any easier. EVERY time there is talk of tinkering with the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), it is time we recalled how and why the Act came into existence. The passage of the NREGA was Parliament's response to a people's movement that grew out of the recognition and...
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False promises by Mohan Rao
The claim that the Unique Identification project will facilitate the delivery of basic health services is dishonest. AMONG the many reasons cited for India to proceed with the Unique Identification (UID) project – that it will facilitate delivery of basic services, that it will plug leakages in public expenditure, that it will speed up achievement of targets in social sector schemes, and so on – the most specious is perhaps the...
More »Reforming the Press Council by AG Noorani
The new Chairman of the Press Council of India, Markandey Katju, wants to make it an instrument of mediation in addition to adjudication. THE appointment of Justice Markandey Katju, a former judge of the Supreme Court, as Chairman of the Press Council of India is about the best thing that has happened to that body in a long while. It is no exaggeration to say that the PCI commands little prestige...
More »RBI asked to name top 100 defaulting industrialists by Anuja & Remya Nair
The commission has now directed RBI to furnish the information by 10 December to the applicant and publish it on its website by the month-end The Central Information Commission (CIC), which enforces the Right to Information Act, has directed the central bank to make public the names of the top 100 industrialists who have defaulted on loans taken from public sector banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had declined to disclose...
More »RTE may prove a game-changer by Julie Mariappan & M Ramya
Private school admissions may soon see a sweeping change if the government has its way after notifying rules under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act. While the government plans to ensure 25% reservation for underprivileged children by assigning officials to closely monitor the admission process in all schools, including unaided private institutions, a proposal to impose a firstcome-first-served rule may do away with preferential admissions...
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