-TwoCircles.net Tohana-Fatehabad (Haryana): A huge gathering of Poor and marginalized people, large number of them women, took place in Tohana (Fatehabad) in Haryana on December 30, 2014 against corruption and irregularity in providing job under MGNREGA, and proposed dilution in the act. The gathering of over 2000 people was jointly called by National Alliance for People's Movement (NAPM), Khudai Khidmadgar and SBYF and was planned against the government for allegedly failing to...

-The Indian Express The first nine months of the new BJP government has only underscored its anti-Poor, anti-rural image. The substantive and substantial changes in rural development have been restrictive in nature. The new government has worked to undermine the legal and financial framework of MGNREGA, substantially weakened the provisions of the land acquisition act through an ordinance and, through year-end budget cuts, they have undermined almost every social sector programme, reportedly...

-The Hindu In the name of economic reforms and development, the government has taken a significant step backward in India's march to land justice. The pushing through of the Land Act ordinance violates all democratic norms On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party government cleared the proposed ordinance to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013. This amendment, insofar as has been made known...

-The Indian Express More girls in Prime Minister Narendra Modi home state Gujarat seem to be reporting ‘sexual abuse' than anywhere else in the country. According to a recent status report published by an NGO - Save the Children - over 63 percent girls in Gujarat have reported sexual abuse which is highest in the country. Madhya Pradesh (57%) and West Bengal (56%) stand second and third respectively in the report titled,...

-The Indian Express In a bid to ease the process of acquiring land, the Union Cabinet on Monday recommended the promulgation of an ordinance to amend the Land Acquisiton Act, 2013, by including five new categories of projects that would not require prior consent from affected families as well as Social Impact Assessment (SIA). These include projects related to defence, rural infrastructure and industrial corridors. The sensitive provisions relating to compensation, relief...