There were few takers among women in West Bengal for jobs granted under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) in the fiscal year ended March. Women took up only 33% of the 153.4 million man-days of jobs granted in West Bengal under the scheme, much lower than the national average, which was at 47-48%. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, women accounted for 85% and 81%, respectively of jobs...

Nearly one third of Muslims in the nation survive on less than Rs 550 a month, economic think tank NCAER said, amid the ongoing debate on reservations in jobs and educational institutions for those belonging to the community. A survey by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) said that three out of every 10 Muslims were below poverty line and lived on less than Rs 550 a month...

Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising IMAGINE you are one half of a young couple expecting your first child in a fast-growing, poor country. You are part of the new middle class; your income is rising; you want a small family. But traditional mores hold sway around you, most important in the preference for sons over daughters. Perhaps hard physical labour is still...

The Union home ministry has rejected the Bengal government’s request for a caste-based census. “Census 2011 will tabulate population of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, as has been done in the past. However, it will not collect caste-based data on others,” junior home minister Ajay Maken said. The population count is set to begin this April. Several organisations had asked for a caste-based count, but the Bengal dispensation was the only...

The Sachar committee’s report revealed that Muslims in Left-ruled Bengal were worse off on every count than their counterparts in most other states. The report, released in December 2006, put Bengal in the “worst-performer category,” despite the communists’ much professed commitment for the welfare of minorities. The state where 25.25 per cent (2.02 crore) of the population is Muslim, their share in government jobs is just 4.2 per cent and...