About 5000 elderly people will stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar here from May 7 to May 11 demanding universal old-age pension for all those above 55 years. They are mobilised by social rights activists under the banner of Pension Parishad. Co-conveners of the parishad Aruna Roy and Baba Adhav, who launched the movement in Pune on February 1, said the changed socio-economic scenario and the rise in longevity had added to...

-PTI A Parliamentary Panel on Thursday expressed concern over the "slow pace and uneven coverage" of bpl survey under the Socio Economic and Caste census-2011 (SECC). Noting that the survery under the SECC is yet to commence in the states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Manipur, the Standing Committee on Rural Development asked the government to adopt a "more action-oriented approach" including regular monitoring of the progress in co-ordination with the...

A campaign to help the elderly spend the evening of their lives with dignity and without want is being launched by Pension Parishad with a dharna in Delhi from May 7th to May 11th 2012 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. The idea is straight and simple, and is something whose time has come. Just read on and reach the venue for more information and interviews with the campaign participants.   “One...

Online cards issued under the government's flagship rural jobs scheme will now include the beneficiary's 12-digit 'Aadhar' number issued under the Centre's multi-crore unique ID project that has drawn more brickbats than bouquets.  Over the next three months, state governments will update the registration data, including Aadhar numbers, of beneficiaries under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in an exercise to weed out ghost cards.  "This will help us assess...

-The Financial Express A case of cheating and criminal conspiracy was lodged against an RTI activist here for allegedly taking a residential plot from the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) using false documents. RTI national awardee Manoj Karwasra was booked yesterday under Section 420 (cheating) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC for allegedly availing the plot under the defence category quota on a false affidavit of ex-servicemen, police said. In his complain,...