In 2004, a boy was crushed to death by a vehicle when he was crossing the road in front of a school to fetch water. The school, in the heart of the nation’s capital, did not have drinking water facilities. Seven years later, courtesy the NGO Environmental and Consumer Protection Foundation and the Supreme Court, all Indian states (the last two being Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir) have given...
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56,000 homeless in Delhi, finds UNDP by Geeta Gupta
There is finally a definite figure to the number of homeless people in the city. Delhi has nearly 56,000 homeless people, says a survey conducted by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The government has accepted the draft survey report prepared by the UNDP, in association with Mother, an NGO, as an official estimate of the number of homeless in Delhi. The report, titled ‘Homeless survey-2010’, says the Capital has a total of...
More »Man gets 50K RTI plea bill by Nitin Yeshwantrao
Information comes at a price, but Thane resident Omprakash Sharma learnt that the cost could be prohibitive when the information concerns public issues and is to be given by a public body like the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). The state-run agency has told Sharma to pay Rs 50,000 for copies of a study report on transportation strategies in Thane and Raigad districts. The Right to Information (RTI) Act activist had...
More »Anand committee to examine experts' reports on dam safety by J Venkatesan
The five-member Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, at its meeting here on Monday, will examine the reports it has received from various agencies it constituted to go into the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala. In December last, the committee conducted a spot inspection of the dam. It also heard the views of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Centre on the issues framed...
More »Getting the basics right by Dipankar Gupta
After so many wrongs, the Planning Commission may have just got it right. According to leaked accounts, its universal health coverage proposal may become reality as early as the next five-year Plan. Once this policy is in place, India can legitimately enter the club of welfare states through the front door. Now, at last, it has a scheme that is truly inclusive for it includes us all. When implemented, this measure...
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