IN 2005, Gohana in Sonepat district of Haryana witnessed the torching of several Dalit homes by members of upper castes. Now Mirchpur, a village 58 kilometres away and located deep inside Hisar district, has met a similar fate. On April 21, as many as 18 homes belonging to Dalits from the Valmiki community here were set on fire by upper-caste youth over an alleged slight on the part of the...
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MGNREGA status report | Working towards empowerment by Ruhi Tewari
Until two years ago, Vimla had never even considered stepping out of her house for work. Women in her part of the world didn’t work. Now, she doesn’t just work, but also operates a bank account, participates in household decisions, and is learning two of the Rs (reading and writing). The difference is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) that was launched in Vimla’s village in 2008....
More »Ignou to waive fees for sex workers, prisoners in Bengal
Taking education to sex workers and prisoners in jail in West Bengal, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) has decided to waive fees for them. “To start with, Ignou has decided to select the red light district of Sonagachi here from where 26 sex workers are likely to join courses on healthcare and food and nutrition programmes,” Ignou vice-chancellor V.N. Rajsekharan Pillai said. He said that the Kolkata Regional Centre would...
More »UN agency worried about India’s food inflation
A UN expert body on Thursday said surge in food prices in India is a matter of concern, but retail price inflation will cool down to 7.5% this year from around 12% last year. The UN Economic Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (Escap) also projected the economy to grow by 8.3% in 2010-11, compared to estimated 7.2% last fiscal, fueled by the recovery in investment and private consumption. “In India, consumer...
More »Orissa bonded labourers rescue themselves from clutches of serfdom
Over 11 elders including women and a couple of children hailing from Orissa's Koratpur District managed to save themselves from the clutches of serfdom in an obscure village of Karnataka. Buzz up!They reached Orissa on Wednesday, where a voluntary forum apprised the District Labour Officer and facilitated their return to their native village. The role of middlemen luring poor landless labourers came to light due to the efforts of Pragati, the non-governmental...
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