In economic terms, it may sound vague that agricultural advances are touching Rs 30,000 crore when incidences of farmers committing suicide are on the rise in Madhya Pradesh. Over the last fortnight, three farmers have committed suicide and another is battling for life. State authorities are lending a deaf ear to the going-abouts. Against the banking details of a farmer, Shivprasad, who committed suicide on January 8 reportedly due to debt-strain,...

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act has in its four years faced many challenges in implementation, says a monitoring report. FIVE years ago, Parliament enacted a significant piece of legislation relating to women. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005, designed as a civil law, came into effect a year later, in October 2006. The fundamental feature of the Act was that it empowered magistrates...

A Bachelor of Rural Healthcare course is one of the proposed solutions: Azad Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad has called for “out of the box” solutions to reach out to remote areas so that health services can be provided there at the earliest. Speaking at a two-day national conference of State Health Ministers and Health Secretaries here on Wednesday, Mr. Azad said that in many remote areas...

The government has begun discussions with Dalit entrepreneurs on what can be done to promote business ventures set up by members of their community. As a part of its discussions with various groups before it finalizes the 12th Plan for 2012-17, the Planning Commission has sought suggestions from the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Dicci), a business group, on what can be done to spur Dalit capitalism, how these...

One more effort to make government reconsider objections The Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council (NAC) has decided to stick to its recommendations made on the draft National Food Security Bill at its meeting on October 23 last, though these have been rejected by a government committee led by C. Rangarajan, who heads the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. The committee was constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to examine the feasibility of...