Since there was no opportunity for a meaningful discussion on the Bill before its passage, it is necessary to seriously engage with the clarifications and response of Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan in this newspaper
This Bill must be comprehensively rejected. MGNREGA has had many problems, but it has served rural India well and served India extremely well in times of economic distress. Much could have been strengthened within its own framework
The recently passed (but yet to be implemented) Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) threatens to destroy the power and utility of the RTI Act, as well as severely curtail freedom of expression in the country
Not only does it sound the death knell for the RTI Act, but it also makes anyone and everyone who deals with someone else's information liable for prosecution for any breach of its provisions
Rajasthan government's promise of bringing in a Minimum Income Guarantee Law is welcome. Next, it must enact the repeatedly-promised accountability law
It is a cruel irony that after the sacrifice they have been asked to undertake, they don’t even get the safety of physical distancing. Workers have lost hard-won rights, despite labour being the biggest contributor to the Indian growth story.
Nikhil Dey and Aruna Roy write: Prime Minister demanded discipline and sacrifice from the people, while offering no measures to alleviate distress of those who have lost their dignity and livelihoods.
Thousands of crores are supposed to have been saved in this massive anti-corruption drive, but not a single criminal case has been filed. It is delusional to celebrate the Aadhaar tidal wave, and criminal to turn a blind eye to hard facts about exclusion.
The MGNREGA was inspired by the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, passed in 1977, wherein policymakers found wage employment as the best way to empower people against drought
