It was a quirk of fate that made her foray into the tumultuous politics of J&K. Mehbooba has grown into an astute politician and a charismatic leader in 20 years. However, as she renews her vows with the BJP and embarks on a new phase of her career, Mehbooba’s journey is unlikely to be smooth Some of the key challenges for her are: Her image
In 2014, the United Nations’ International Labour Organisation (ILO) set foot in Odisha to guide the state in ensuring and extending basic guarantees of income and health to the poor and the most vulnerable through its joint UN project, ‘Social Protection Floor’ (SPF). Odisha became the testing ground for SPF which links exclusion and poverty, and leaves it to a country to
Governance Now got in touch with Gurpreet Singh alias Santa and Prabhpreet Singh alias Banta, who have been living up to their stage names for 18 years. Sick of being held responsible for bringing disrespect to the community, the duo has now decided to change their names to Jugli and Shugli. When and how did you become popular as Santa and Banta?
At the age of 82, Ela Bhatt remains as active as she was decades ago when she launched a remarkable trade union of poor women, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), in Ahmedabad and thus pioneered a unique grassroots movement. Bhatt, a Gandhian, has served in various capacities – as a nominated MP, as a member of the planning commission and on a number of international organ
Urur Olcott Kuppam is the name of a 150-year-old fishing village near Chennai’s Elliot’s beach where the Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha – a unique festival of dance and music – is being held for the past two years. ‘Vizha’ means festival in Tamil. This year the Vizha was scheduled for mid-January, but due to the floods that hit Chennai in December 2015, we postpone
The Indian agriculture is at the verge of a revolution that will modernise the entire food chain in the country. We would not only double the farmer’s income but also increase the country’s food production by many folds and that too in a decade if the much required reforms are carried out. Today there are excellent business prospects and competitive pricing for the agricultur
Close to the World Cultural Festival organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living (AoL), purportedly, causing damage to the flood plain of river Yamuna in Delhi, the centre is mulling changes in the environmental laws to make such vandalism unaffordable. The proposed changes in the law would scale up the fines to a minimum of Rs 5 crore as against Rs 1 lakh. Will this act as a de
Aadhaar has faced a volley of criticism for limiting a citizen’s right to privacy. But Aadhaar is not alone in intruding into your life. You can stake a claim to genuine privacy and escape state surveillance only if you opt out of all kinds of identification systems – birth certificate, driving licence, passport, election card and PAN card. And stop using your cell phone. And of cou
In March this year, the Indian government banned Phensedyl (a cough syrup) along with over 300 other drugs. Though the move came as a major setback for a number of pharmaceuticals, it happened to be a long-pending welcome step towards strengthening India-Bangladesh relations. Phensedyl was already banned in Bangladesh but continued to be sold in India. The medicine contains an op
The government brought in the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, to give statutory backing to the Aadhaar scheme launched in 2009. While the scheme was already under the supreme court scanner for invading privacy, the legislative move led to another controversy. The government’s decision to classify the bill as a money bill to b
As Tamil Nadu gears up for the May 16 assembly polls, it’s raining freebies in the state, yet again. Before the model code of conduct came into effect early this month, politicians ensured to pamper the citizens with goodies. Minister for information and special programme implementation KT Rajendra Balaji distributed free gold in Sivakasi assembly constituency of Virudhunagar district.
How would you describe the last one year in terms of rolling out e-governance services and various ICT interventions in Delhi? The government of national capital territory of Delhi (GNCTD) intends to convert all services including internal functioning on the e-platform in a time-bound manner. As part of the e-governance initiatives for G2C and G2B, free Wi-Fi is
Can you explain the cash transfer system under NFSA, 2013? The law categorises beneficiaries as priority households and antyodaya anna yojana (AAY) families. The AAY families (the poorest of the poor) get 35 kg of ration. Otherwise, it is 5 kg per person. We are giving two options to the states. One, cash transfer; and second, the states can chose to install point of sa
In your view how cash transfer in PDS has fared in Puducherry? In my view the scheme is absolutely successful. It is one of the experiments that have worked very well. Primary reason is, people here are aware that it is a better idea to have money and buy from an open market as plenty of choices are available to them, rather than getting confined to a particular governme
Leilani Farha is UN’s special rapporteur (SR) on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context. She was appointed in May 2014 by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). The feisty Ottawa-based lawyer presented her UN report themed ‘homelessness’ on March 7 to the HRC in its 3
On the afternoon of February 25, outside the Allahabad district court, a mob of more than 200 people including men wearing black robes of the lawyer’s uniform attacked a peaceful dharna by the leftist organisations to demand the release of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar. They had rods in their hands and were shouting slogans such as “Vande Mataram”, “Go back to Pakistan&
On March 2, the Delhi high court granted bail to Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar in a sedition case registered against him in connection with a function organised to protest against the hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Though Kanhaiya is free now, his personal liberty and freedom of thought may be hostage to the vague conditions for bai
I assume that you already have an Aadhaar number. After all, 98 crore Indians have it. Why won’t you? And if you haven’t, it is time. The Aadhaar bill cleared by parliament on March 16 provides for any agency, government or private, to use Aadhaar as proof of identity. Don’t be surprised tomorrow if you book a flight, railway or bus ticket, or buy a SIM card or apply for marri
Jean Dreze is equally concerned with theory of development economics as with its practice. A visiting professor at the department of economics in Ranchi University, he has extensively worked on issues related to hunger, famine, gender inequality, child health and education. He has also been at the forefront of several social movements, including the right-to-information and right-to-food ca
The recent spate of violence in Haryana was terrifying. The uncontainable rage led to a virtual collapse of law and order in vast swaths of the state. Large-scale violence was witnessed including loss of human lives and that of public and private property. The sudden spread of mob violence marked by loot and arson recalled the memory of what had happened in Delhi in 1984 and in Ahmedabad in 200
