Caste Division in MGNREGS a Recipe for Disaster

THE union rural development ministry has asked states for data on caste basis in the works of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The ministry stated that the details of workers belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) sections should be mentioned separately. Since the inception of the scheme in 2006, there was no such circular from the central government to the states. For the first time employment under the scheme is being sought to be divided on caste lines, which reveals the real agenda of the BJP government.

Political Economy of Higher Prices of Petroleum Product

MANY arguments are floated to defend what is rather indefensible. The unprecedented rise in the prices of petroleum products has the potential to make governments unpopular.

The argument often put forth is that prices of petroleum products are determined by global market forces. The governments have no role to play.

The Union Govt and Compensation for Families of Covid Victims

THE union government’s submission in the Supreme Court on the question of compensation to families of Covid victims is both characteristically brazen and callous, and completely unsurprising.

Modi Govt Paralysed as Job Losses Reach Dire Heights

THE number of employed persons in India has plummeted in the past few months by about 2.5 crores and the unemployment rate has zoomed up to about 12 per cent, indicating the immense misery that Indian people are facing. Coming as it does when the brutal second wave of Covid-19 pandemic is just about beginning to abate, and after over a year of suffering the carnage caused by this pandemic and its mishandling, the country’s people have been crushed under unprecedented economic burden.

Modi Government’s Covid Vaccine Policy

THE central government’s Covid vaccine policy has to be seen in the background of its healthcare policy, which mainly is the privatisation of entire healthcare system-including national health policy and the drug policy.

DRUG POLICY

Kerala’s Pro-people Budget in Covid Times

THE return of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to power in Kerala in May 2021, with an unprecedented mandate, was driven by an extraordinary record of governance on multiple fronts. On the one hand, the economic policies of the central government led to falling economic growth rates, rising unemployment and poverty and shrinking public revenues. Kerala was particularly severely affected by many of these misadventures in policy. On the other hand, Kerala was hit by multiple natural calamities, an epidemic and a pandemic between 2016 and 2021.

Central Vista Redevelopment Project: Government: Legislator, Executor; Violates Law with Impunity

THE Central Vista Redevelopment Project(CV) in Delhi, right since its inception has been seen as one of the biggest projects for its opaqueness and many mysteries that kept on developing as the project advanced. The strong push from the government of India, especially by the prime minister himself for timely completion of the new parliament building before his second term expires has seen complete impunity to the laws of the land. Here it means the building laws as determined by the Delhi Master Plan(MPD).

Six Months of Kisan Movement

THE longest, largest, most united, and peaceful kisan struggle since independence has been continuously gaining in strength. The agitating farmers have shown unprecedented unity, determination and strength despite facing several odds – from winter chill to pouring rains and searing heat. As the anti-peasant Modi government did not allow them to come to the national capital, farmers in their thousands are seating peacefully at five border points of Delhi -- Singhu, Tikri, Gazipur, Palwal and Shahjahanpur.

New IT Rules: Attack on Citizen’s Rights

THE ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) issued a new set of rules as part of the IT Act on February 25, 2021, termed the "Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics." Social media intermediaries such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp were given three months (by May 25th) to comply with the rules or lose their 'safe harbour' provisions. Compliance with these rules would significantly change the way we interact with such platforms and each other, threatening our fundamental rights of free speech and privacy.

Online Symposium on Contemporary Marxism: Development and Innovation in Theory and Practice

Below we publish the full text of the fraternal message of greetings sent to Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), by Sitaram Yechury, general secretary, CPI(M) on the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. This message was read out by R Arun Kumar, Central Committee member of the Party, at the online symposium held on May 27

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