KAMLA NAGAR, DELHI - 110007 ANIMATION | VFX tel. - CHANGE

DECEMBER 2011
Central Board for Workers Education
The Central Board for Workers Education under the Ministry of Labour & Employment is providing
financial assistance for bringing awareness among the workers of organised and unorganised
sector in the country. The Board through its Grants-in-Aid Scheme extends financial assistance to
eligible Trade Union Organizations and Institutions to conduct workers Education Programmes.
During the last three years the financial assistance given by the board various to trade Unions/
Institutions is as under:
Years Grants-in-Aid provided to Trade Unions/Institutions (in Rupees)
2008-09 15,33,784/-
2009-10 6,33,762/-
2010-11 9,66,471/-
Also, during the last three years the Board organized a number of programmes for workers. The
detail of number of workers participated therein and expenditure incurred on conducting the
programmes is as under:
Year No.of No.of workers Expenditure Sector wise (in Rupees)
Programmes participated Organised Unorganised/ Rural
2008-09 6,802 2,30,816 26,04,809/- 5,62,15,975/-
2009-10 8,303 2,88,716 19,19,825/- 5,48,98,869/-
2010-11 8,480 2,96,734 34,60,909/- 7,47,30,729/-
The fund allocated and sanctioned by the Government to the Board (under Plan Scheme), during
last three years and current year, for conducting the programmes in organised, unorganised and
rural sectors, is as follows:
Year Fund Sanctioned ( Rupees in crore)
2008-09 9.50
2009-10 9.00
2010-11 9.50
2011-12 23.20
Moreover, the Government has appointed M/s Educational Consultants India Ltd. (Ed. CIL), a
Government of India Enterprises of the Ministry of Human Resources Development to assess the
impact of the programmes being implemented by the Central Board for Workers Education in 2008.
Ed. CIL in its report has appreciated the work of Central Board for Workers Education and
recommended for its expansion at all levels.
The Central Board for Workers Education (CBWE) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of
Labour & Employment, Government of India. It is registered under the Societies Registration Act,
1860. Started in 1958, the Workers Education Scheme in India has been playing a very significant
role in our national development; creating an enlightened and disciplined work force and bringing
about desirable behavioral changes in our workforce in the organized, unorganized and rural
sectors. It gets grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Labour & Employment to operate its activities.
The Scheme of Workers Education aims at achieving the objectives of creating and increasing
awareness and educating the workforce for their effective participation in the socio-economic
development of the country. To achieve these objectives, various training programmes are
conducted by the Board for the workers of formal and informal sectors at national, regional and
unit levels through a network of 50 Regional and 09 Sub-Regional Directorates spread all over the
country and an apex Training Institute viz. Indian Institute of Workers Education (IIWE) at Mumbai.
RTI can Check Corruption: Experts
Amid a debate on the Right to Information Act
(RTI) affecting governance, experts batted for
strengthening the transparency law, stressing
its potential to check corruption and redress
grievances.
Bibek Debroy of the Centre for Policy Research,
Maja Daruwala of the Commonwealth Human
Rights Initiative and G. Raghuram of the Indian
Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A)
felt that the RTI Act’s ‘potential for stemming
corruption and grievance redressal needs much
more obedience to proactive disclosure’.
They shared their views on the final day of the
two-day convention Oct 14-15 on
‘Transparency and Accountability with Special
Reference to Public Private Partnership
Projects’ .
While Daruwala maintained that the RTI Act ‘has
the potential and efficacy to curb corruption
and redress grievance’, Debroy was of the
opinion that ‘corruption comes down if
monopoly goes away and corruption comes
down if discretion goes away’.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who also
addressed the meet, said Right to Information
is a basic right that underpins good governance,
democracy, poverty eradication and the practical
realisation of human rights. He requested the
CIC to organise an all India workshop on RTI as
is being implemented in Patna.
The controversy over the transparency law
arose after the prime minister, addressing the
6th Annual Convention of Information
Commissioners, said the act has been effective
but there were ‘concerns that it could
discourage honest, well-meaning public
servants from giving full expression to their
views’.
‘Even as we recognise and celebrate the efficacy
and the effectiveness of the Right to Information
Act, we must take a critical look at it,’ Manmohan
Singh said. ‘There are concerns that need to be
discussed and addressed honestly.’
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had accused
the prime minister of trying to dilute the law and
social activist Aruna Roy, also a member of the
Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council,
had criticised Manmohan Singh for ‘suggesting
dilution of the Act.’
Online Verification of UIDAI Project on Anvil
Successful operation of pilot project for online authentication would allow people to use their
ID numbers to access a host of services
The Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) would launch a pilot project
for online authentication of Aadhar numbers on real-time basis in Jharkhand next month.
UIDAI Director General Ram Sevak Sharma said the operation of Aadhar numbers would be tried
in Jharkhand to know if the system was responding properly in case of transfer of money to
beneficiaries of social sector schemes including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) schemes.
The pilot project for real-time authentication would be launched in five blocks in consultation of
the State Government. “We have asked the State government to identify the blocks that saw the
launch of pilot project of original programme,” Sharma said.
The state government and banks would use Aadhar database to open bank accounts and transfer
funds for thousands of MGNREGA schemes beneficiaries. Besides, the authentication project
would help the authority build a case for more funds and wider scale of coverage. Sharma said that
the success of online authentication would enable the Aadhar number owners to use the same as
a single source of authentication for a host of public utility services. “The project also intends to
ascertain if Aadhar numbers could be used for opening bank accounts, issuance of driving licences,
and a number of other services like ration cards, passports, etc,” Sharma added.
The Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance have mandated the UIDAI number as a
valid “know-your-customer” document for opening bank accounts, but are yet to allow online
verification. So far, the agency has enrolled around 110 million people and is in talks with various
stakeholders, such as Telecom Department, to make ‘Aadhaar’ a valid document to access services.
It may be noted that the UIDAI’s demand for Rs 15,000 crore to scale-up coverage came in for
sharp criticism from various government departments and was rejected by the Expenditure Finance
Commission.
Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre is
the Realization of the Long Cherished Dream of the Deaf
Community
Shri Mukul Wasnik, Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, inaugurated the Indian Sign
Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) at the IGNOU Campus. Shri Wasnik said that
ISLRTC is the realization of the long cherished dream of the deaf community in India. It is an
exclusive education project for teaching, learning, training and capacity building for the vast deaf
population. It will be a full time teaching and training center for Indian Sign Language combined
with distance teaching/learning opportunities. This research centre is the first of its kind in India
with centres attached to IGNOU. There will be zonal/regional centers in different geographic
regions of the country. The center would consist of short term, medium and full-fledged programmes
for both the un-trained and experienced teachers of the deaf schools.
Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment said that in India, as per 2001 census, the population
with hearing impairment was over 12.62 Lakhs and as per 58th round of NSSO the hearing impaired
population was 30.62 Lakhs. A significant number of deaf persons essentially depend on Sign
Language for communication; hence this is an historic occasion, depicting the commitment of the
Government to fulfill the needs of the deaf community in India. The inclusion of deaf people in the
larger development activity of the country depends significantly on promotion of Sign Language,
Shri Mukul Wasnik said. He further said that Sign Language in India is in nascent stage and
evolving. Even the reach of it also by far is limited to some pockets of the country. Therefore, we
need to think innovatively to reach out to the people who are in need. One such activity could be
having Sign Language Clubs. In USA, there is a concept of Sign Language Clubs. These clubs are
attached to colleges and universities. Shri Wasnik requested the Director, ISLRTC, to explore the
possibilities of having such clubs in India. European Sign Language Centre through the web
based computer tool www.spreadthesign.com created a web of itself in 10 European countries.
2011 Global Hunger Index Fact and Findings: Asia
South Asia has the highest regional 2011 Global
Hunger Index (GHI) score—22.6.
The 2011 GHI score fell by 25 percent in South
Asia compared with its 1990 score, and the 2011
GHI score in Southeast Asia decreased by 44
percent.
The South Asia region reduced its GHI score
by more than 6 points between 1990 and 1996—
mainly due to a large decline in underweight in
children under five, but the fast progress was
not maintained. South Asia has lowered its GHI
score by only one point since 2001 despite
strong economic growth. Social inequality and
the low nutritional, educational, and social status
of women, which is a major cause of child
undernutrition in the region, have impeded
improvements in the GHI score.
Bangladesh and Vietnam saw large gains in
improving their GHI score between the 1990 GHI
A representative of Dalit organisations sought
support for their version of the anti-graft bill,
claiming that the Jan Lokpal bill drafted by Team
Anna ‘will disturb the constitutional balance’.
‘The Jan Lokpal bill wants the executive, the
judiciary and the legislature should report to
the Lokpal. This will disturb the fine
constitutional balance,’ said All India
Confederation of SC/ST Organisations
chairman Udit Raj, seeking support for their
version of the proposed legislation called the
Bahujan Lokpal bill. He sought reservation for
Dalits and minorities in the proposed anticorruption
set-up through the Bahujan Lokpal
bill. ‘If Anna supports our demand, we will back
him.’
‘Dalits, including the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes and minorities, form a large
percentage of population and must be involved
in the Lokpal,’ Udit Raj said at the seminar on
various versions of the proposed legislation.
Udit Raj said even if the Lokpal bill was passed,
and the 2011 GHI. Vietnam reduced its score by
56 percent, and Bangladesh reduced its score
by 36 percent.
In Bangladesh—a country where 25 percent of
the population is ultra-poor (living on less than
USD $0.50 a day)—only about 7 percent of the
population has access to social protection or
safety net programs.
The GHI score for North Korea increased by 18
percent since 1990. A weak economy, high
military spending, weather-related crop failures,
and systematic problems in the agricultural
sector have hampered progress.
Cambodia is the only country to improve from
an “extremely alarming” to “serious” level of
hunger since 1990.
Bangladesh, India, and Timor-Leste have the
highest prevalence—more than 40 percent—of
underweight in children under five.
Dalits Push their Version of Lokpal Bill
Science and technology-based solutions only
can help fight poverty in the world’s poorest
nations, says an NGO that has taken precisely
this approach to tackle the problem in India.
The India800 Foundation, a charity that will
present its work at the House of Lords, argues
poverty should be tackled by identifying specific
problems and then by developing technologybased
solutions.
‘Our theme is Building One India, and our work
is always solutions-focused,’ said Krishna
Sarda, India8002 s chief executive, in a statement.
The organisation was launched jointly by the
Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group and
EMF, a Social Justice Foundation.
It is currently working with India’s poorest
people and harnessing the power of science and
technology to improve their living conditions.
Their work includes solar powered lighting
systems to eliminate the use of kerosene lamps,
‘there is no guarantee it will be effective in
rooting out corruption’.
Swami Agnivesh, a former member of Team Anna,
also supported the demand for a quota for Dalits
and minorities in the proposed Lokpal set-up.
‘No legislation or movement will be successful
if it does not have social justice,’ said Agnivesh.
Shazia Ilmi, a member of Team Anna, said, ‘our
movement follows parliamentary procedures’
and ‘was not opposed to giving reservation to
the Dalits and minorities’.
‘We are basically against corruption and want a
strong Lokpal,’ said Shazia.
The parliamentary standing committee on law
and justice headed by Congress MP Abhishek
Manu Singhvi is looking into various drafts of
the Lokpal bill, including the Jan Lokpal bill.
The panel is expected to submit its
recommendations to parliament by the winter
session, which is usually held in November-
December.
Science Can Help Fight Poverty in India: NGO
development of cheap mobile phones and other
health related technologies.
Debates on whether aid works, how much aid
budgets should be and how they are spent ought
not to be the only focus, it noted.
The organisation believes this will help prevent
‘compassion fatigue’ and the feeling by many
that poverty issues are far too huge and complex
to actually be ever solved.
‘We are aware of the enormity of the challenge
we have set ourselves, but we must work to
ensure all emerging economies secure inclusive
growth. If we do not secure this we will have
wasted the opportunity to lift millions out of
poverty.’
To this end, the charity will call for the setting
up of a ministerial group on social justice from
the emerging BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia,
India and China) to share best practice on
inclusive growth and developments in science
and technology.
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