-Newsclick.in The initiatives by Odisha and Rajasthan governments have prompted political leaders from other states to raise demands for similar action from their state governments. Kolkata: The recent decisions by two state governments – Odisha and Rajasthan – abolishing contractual engagement of people for government jobs have come as a morale booster for trade unions. The unions have been agitating for several years demanding contract workers' regularisation. The General Administration and Public...

-Newsclick.in Led by the Joint Platform of Scheme Workers Federations, ASHAs, along with workers engaged in anganwadis, mid-day meal scheme and National Health Mission also demanded a legislation on ‘right to universal healthcare’. New Delhi: Pushed to the brink after their jobs remained non-regularised since many years now, nearly one crore government-sponsored scheme workers staged a one-day strike on Friday, in what was termed as a “warning” action by the federations in...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: About 90% of buildings in the national capital are not structurally equipped to withstand a seismic zone (SZ) IV earthquake but the Centre and Delhi government are “not interested” in taking any corrective measures, the Delhi high court said on Wednesday. Saying that the government was waiting for a “disaster to happen”, a bench of justice BD Ahmed and justice Sanjeev Sachdeva directed the Centre and Delhi government...

-The Hindu Mahant Maniyari, Bihar: October in Bihar is a month of festivals, but the mood in this village comprising 10,000 people in Kudhani block was far from celebratory. Hundreds of workers sat on a 32-day dharna in the village panchayat bhawan, festivals forgotten, their only demand being wages. Despite visits by district officials, what came of the protests were only cases slapped against four protestors. There are over 300 workers in...

-The Indian Express     Policy design should worry less about public versus private, and more about choice and accountability. The most noteworthy aspect of the Aam Aadmi Party's manifesto is the explicit focus on service delivery. This is what its government will be evaluated on, and attention has shifted from the AAP's political success to how it will deliver on these promises. The ideas below reflect learnings from over a decade of research...