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...
More »SEARCH RESULT
UPA readies food security draft in line with Congress priorities by Nitin Sethi
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...
More »Reduce Inequalities to Boost Health, WHO Says by Fabíola Ortiz
Economic status, education, access to clean water and sanitation, nutrition and the environment determine the level of health of persons, communities or countries, and so does the extent to which Rights are enjoyed or denied. The World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, held Oct. 19-21 in Brazil, defined 15 commitments that should be undertaken by governments, international organisations, the private sector and civil society. The final document, the Rio Political Declaration...
More »25 years on, not many consumers aware of their Rights
-The Hindu Consumer Protection Act exists since 1986 In the 25th year of enactment of the Consumer Protection Act (COPRA), 1986, in the country, a majority of the population in Rajasthan has not even heard about the law, not to speak of making use of its provisions to protect their Rights as consumers. A recent field research survey indicated that 63 per cent of the people in the State have not heard of...
More »Oh, It Happens by Neelabh Mishra
Police officers of Chhattisgarh would have us believe that people fall inside bathrooms at police stations deliberately to break their own heads or backs and later blame it on custodial torture. They say that’s what happened with Soni Sori, an ashramshala teacher from Jabeli village in the Maoist-affected Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, on October 10. In pain, drifting in and out of consciousness, benumbed by the ‘good cop, bad cop’...
More »