The lone Indian activist on the 2011 TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, Aruna Roy has been more successful than most, when it comes to getting the government’s attention. The Chennai-born former bureaucrat who was an instrumental force behind the revolutionary Right to Information Act has also been credited by the government for “incorporating strong citizen entitlements” in the ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). A constant...
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Drought caused kharif damage in 85.6 lakh acres by B Chandrashekhar
About 51.54 lakh ryots lost investments Farmers in the State have suffered crop damage in a whopping 85.6 lakh acres during the 2011 kharif season, 44 per cent of the total 1,94,65,000 acres area cultivated. About 51.54 lakh farmers, including 48.33 lakh small and marginal ones, have lost the investment almost completely. In a report submitted to the State government recently, the Department of Agriculture has put the requirement of input subsidy, compensation...
More »Dodging consumer court orders will attract fine now by Gargi Parsai
Consumers will be able to register their complaints online and any delay in complying with the orders of consumer courts could invite a fine of Rs. 500 or 1.5 per cent of the amount of penalty. These amendments, introduced to the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2011, will facilitate quicker disposal of cases and amplify the scope of some of the provisions of the Act. The Bill, tabled in the Lok Sabha in the just-concluded session,...
More »States fail to pay dues to jobless under MGNREGS by Devika Banerji
-The Economic Times States owe rural job seekers more than Rs 68 crore in unemployment dole, undermining the effectiveness of the government's flagship rural jobs guarantee scheme that has millions of workers in its fold. Workers enrolled under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are entitled to unemployment allowance if they are not provided a job within 15 days of applying for it. Although the allowance is to...
More »STARVATION DEATHS CONTINUE IN ODISHA: AHRC
The popular impression is that starvation deaths happen mainly because the information about potential victims fails to reach authorities. But can it amount to murder if a starvation death is caused despite adequate warning? A recent Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) report tells us a story of corruption and negligence leading to starvation and death in Odisha. Worse still is the fact that many more villagers await the same fate...
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