THE day of October 2, 2007, is important for rural sanitation workers in the state. The then Congress government appointed these employees on the same day through gram panchayats on a monthly honorarium of Rs 3,525 to keep the villages clean and tidy. The number of these employees in the state is about 11,000. The government gave the right to pay an honorarium to the gram panchayats, with this decision of the government, the foundation of forced labour and harassment was laid.

THE day of October 2, 2007, is important for rural sanitation workers in the state. The then Congress government appointed these employees on the same day through gram panchayats on a monthly honorarium of Rs 3,525 to keep the villages clean and tidy. The number of these employees in the state is about 11,000. The government gave the right to pay an honorarium to the gram panchayats, with this decision of the government, the foundation of forced labour and harassment was laid.

TWO news items about India have figured prominently, one a nearly 24 per cent drop in India’s GDP  the previous quarter and the other that India has taken over as the new epicentre of the global pandemic with its figures for new cases crossing even the US numbers. The 24 per cent drop in GDP for the second quarter is the biggest drop of any major economy in the world for a quarter. The comparable US figures are 9.5 per cent and Japan’s 7.6 per cent drop in the same quarter.

TWO news items about India have figured prominently, one a nearly 24 per cent drop in India’s GDP  the previous quarter and the other that India has taken over as the new epicentre of the global pandemic with its figures for new cases crossing even the US numbers. The 24 per cent drop in GDP for the second quarter is the biggest drop of any major economy in the world for a quarter. The comparable US figures are 9.5 per cent and Japan’s 7.6 per cent drop in the same quarter.

ON August 30, Gulam Nabi, secretary of J & K CPI(M) while reacting to the former finance minister, Haseeb Drabu’s assertions on the 'Gupkar Declaration' with reference to CPI(M), said it was not based on facts.In an Op-Ed piece in Greater Kashmir, Drabu had questioned whether J&K CPI(M) had the blessing of the high command to be part of the Gupkar Declaration or it is a 'localised' show of solidarity.To put the records straight, the CPI(M) central leadership has strongly opposed unconstitutional, illegal and authoritarian decisions taken by the BJP government on August 5, 2019.