Biraj Patnaik, principal adviser to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, is up in arms against the National Food Security Bill. “Despite multiple meetings and many suggestions put forward, what we have is a mockery of a bill. The government has made a dog’s breakfast out of the right to food bill,” he exclaims. Patnaik’s is not a one-off complaint. Some argue that the country’s law-making process is...

Flaying the governments unique the Right to Education (RTE) Act awareness campaign which will be launched on November 11, non-Congress ruled states are calling it a "politically-motivated" move. The HRD ministry has decided to mail a letter from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to over 13 lakh elementary schools across the country to generate awareness about the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Called  'Shiksha ka Haq' (Right To Education), the awareness drive...

Five days after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi accused Mayawati government in UP of mega-scale corruption in the centrally sponsored schemes, union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has shot off a letter to UP chief minister Mayawati citing a huge scam in the MNREGA scheme in the state. According to sources, Jairam has specifically mentioned seven districts Balrampur, Gonda, Mahoba, Sonbhadra, Sant Kabir Nagar and Mirzapur where central funds have...

The UPA is pressing ahead with the National Food Security Bill for the Cabinet despite agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's public criticism of UPA's flagship programme. The first draft, which was put up for public consultation including inputs from state governments, is being revised to reflect the political priorities of the Congress. Even as the government gives final shape to the bill it will take to the Cabinet, the debate within the government...

CNN-IBN   Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati citing a huge scam in MNREGA scheme in the state. Jairam has cited seven districts spread across UP where central funds have been allegedly misused by the state. These districts are Balrampur, Gonda, Mahoba, Sonbhadra, Sant Kabir Nagar and Mirzapur.   The letter talks about the budget for MNREGA scheme in UP to be above Rs 5000 crore. Jairam has written...