Although the Domestic Violence Act mandates certain mechanisms to be put in place in order to protect the rights of women facing violence, in most states, neither have the functionaries under the Act been appointed nor have the required services been provided. Senior advocate Gayatri Singh emphasises that it is necessary to take concrete steps to ensure that the DVA is properly implemented. Read more »
The government has a plan to reach welfare to the poor without wasting money. It wants to put hard cash in their hands instead of spending on welfare programmes. To begin with, it wants to end the public distribution system of food grain and give money directly to the people. Its logic: the new system of cash transfer will plug leakages and save an enormous amount of money. But is it that simple? About 40 per cent of the poor are still not officially recognised. Richard Mahapatra finds out how cash transfer works and how ready is India for the shift in the delivery of welfare schemes. Read more »
Jaitapur will become the world’s largest nuclear power station, generating 9,900 MW, or more than double India’s current nuclear capacity (4,780 MW). It will also wreck 40,000 people’s livelihoods and generate electricity that’s three to five times costlier than power from other sources, thus magnifying the economic disaster called Enron, also located in Ratnagiri. Read more »
The notification of the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 has provided a legal framework for protecting an ecosystem that has come under serious threat from unregulated development activity. Wetlands provide a range of ecosystem services, not the least of which is water security to vast regions housing millions of people. If cities depend on them as reservoirs and flood control systems, rural communities derive basic sustenance from these marvels of nature. It is welcome, therefore, that the rules prohibit some of the more destructive activities that have wiped out a large number of wetlands in several States. Read more »
With the government at loggerheads with the National Advisory Council and civil society groups on the question of a universal vs targeted approach to the proposed food security Act, Sachin Kumar Jain presents the case against the targeted approach in a country that provides subsidies and exemptions of Rs 418,000 crore to industry while constantly reducing the entitlements of the poor. Read more »
“We need a revolution,” the secretary-general of the U.N. told a panel at the World Economic Forum on how best to make the global economy sustainable. “Climate change is also showing us that the old model is more than obsolete.” Read more »
HIV prevalence has gone up from 28.1% to 34.9% among female sex workers in Mumbai and a few other districts in the country, according to a study of six vulnerable Indian states Read more »
The number of suicides by farmers continues to rise countrywide with Maharashtra topping the list for the tenth consecutive year. Even as food prices soar, farmers in India do not seem to be profiting. The National Crime Record Bureau’s most recent figures reveal that more than 17,000 farmers committed suicide in 2009, the worst year since 2004. Read more »
One of the flagship programmes of the UPA government, the Forest Rights Act, is floundering. An eight-month investigation across 17 states by a committee set up jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has pointed out gaping holes in implementation. It has strongly recommended independent oversight of the process, involvement of civil society at all levels, and a national council that could boost implementation to levels that will make a real difference on the ground. Read more »
The development or closure of industry is generally based on the premise that industry must be isolated from other human activities. Not only does this throw workers out of jobs, it does nothing to control pollution, because every relocated hazardous unit will simply continue to pollute elsewhere. It would be better to promote industry that protects both livelihoods as well as environment Read more »