NREGA Sangharsh Mocha Stagnant wage rates are not the only rude shock that workers of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) received this month. Most of the them also remain unpaid for the work done by them in the past few months. Ninety-nine per cent of the Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs) for … More Delay in MGNREGA wage payment continues despite SC instruction to pay in 15 days of doing work

Excerpts from the working paper “Outdoor Air Pollution in Rural North India” by Nikhil Srivastav and Sangita Vyas, published  by Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (r.i.c.e.), based on visit to Reusa, a block in Uttar Pradesh: By January 2017, the Ujjwala Yojana, a government scheme that subsidizes liquid petroleum gas (LPG) connections, was sweeping across … More Govt policies for curtailing rural pollution aren’t designed effectively, nor are implemented well

A note by Right to Food Campaign (RtF) on how aadhaar undermines the right to life of millions: On 21 March, 2018, the government began its defence of Aadhaar in the Supreme Court. The Right to Food Campaign is dismayed that the government once again presented already debunked claims of the benefits of Aadhaar in … More Aadhaar has done opposite of empowerment, it has denied people their legal entitlements

By Dipa Sinha and Kavita Srivastava* The Right to Food Campaign is deeply disappointed by the 13 March 2018 Supreme Court order which extends the deadline for Aadhaar linking of facilities such as bank accounts and SIM cards, but permits the continued imposition of Aadhaar on social services and entitlements such as the public distribution system … More Notifications linking Aadhaar with welfare schemes should be immediately withdrawn

Excerpt from the Delhi Solidarity Group report, “Union Budget 2018-19: Issues of Marginalized Sections”: Budgetary allocations towards the handloom sector have witnessed one of the most severe cuts of the 2018-19 budget with the sector being allocated less than 2/3rds of what it got in the previous budget. However, this is not unexpected as cuts … More Handloom in Union budget: Lack of concern for the labour intensive and indigenous sector

The Right to Food Campaign statement on “paltry social sector allocations in the Union budget for the financial year 2018-19: The Right to Food Campaign is highly disappointed with the budget for 2018-19 presented by the Union Finance Minister. It has miserably failed to respond to the present situation of rural distress and mass unemployment … More Union budget: How government has sought to keep social sector interventions to the minimum

The Right to Food Campaign has demanded immediate implementation of Maternity Entitlements as per the National Food Security Act (NSA), 2013. Text of the statement: The Right to Food Campaign demands justice for pregnant women and their infants. For more than four years, all Indian women except those working in government/public sector undertakings have been entitled … More Government of India programme violates both letter and spirit of National Food Security Act