-GoIMonitor.com The villagers getting management rights under the Forest Rights Act can inspire others “First came the forest, followed by the people, and then the government. Does this chronology allow the newest entrant in the scheme to determine the relationship between the two older entities? In other words, does the new regime of community forest resource bequeath rights or is it merely a recognition of unalienable rights already vested in the communities living...

-The Hindu They matter because they sustain social practices without which human life is neither worthwhile nor indeed possible There is much talk these days about the decline in our institutions. Aren’t they failing to perform, being systematically undermined, even destroyed? On the one hand, people are heard lamenting that our courts are compromised, that our Parliament is dysfunctional, or that our higher education is in a mess. On the other hand,...

-TheWire.in We see this hasty police action as the Maharashtra government’s response to increasing exertion of oppressed class against sustained caste atrocities in the state, said a statement. New Delhi: About 80 former fellows of the Prime Minister’s Rural Development programme, as well as former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, have come out in support of Mahesh Raut. Raut was arrested from Pune, along with four others, in connection with the violence following...

-Firstpost.com The labour ministry has put the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) on the back burner as it wants to transition to computing payroll data based on Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscriptions, based on data from the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), according to this report in The Economic Times. Of course, the EPFO-based jobs data gives one a better picture about the...

-TheWire.in A pregnant tribal woman recently had to be carried for nearly 8 kms to reach a proper road to get to the hospital, an incident that is all to familiar to the region that is still awaiting basic infrastructure. Atappady (Kerala): Panali, a 35-year-old tribal man in the Edvani area of Nilgiri Hills in Attappady, Kerala, along with his relatives, had to carry his pregnant wife on his shoulder for...