The Hindu : Front Page : Cabinet nod for job guarantee Bill

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 16, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

Cabinet nod for job guarantee Bill

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 15. The Union Cabinet today approved the draft National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, ensuring at least 100 days of casual employment at a prescribed wage rate annually to one member of every poor rural household.

"The draft will be introduced in Parliament in the current session," the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, S. Jaipal Reddy, told reporters after the meeting.

Programme's focus

To be implemented by the Rural Development Ministry, the focus of the scheme will be on works relating to water conservation, creation of additional irrigation potential through micro and mini irrigation, drought proofing and wasteland development.

The scheme will be implemented in 150 districts initially and it would be extended to all rural areas of the country after evaluating its performance in the chosen districts. The wages to labourers would be fixed by the Centre.

Information Bill cleared

The Cabinet also cleared the draft Right to Information Bill, 2004, which will replace the Freedom of Information Act, 2000. Mr. Reddy said that while the right to information was a commitment made by the United Progressive Alliance in its national common minimum programme, some suggestions made by the National Advisory Council have been incorporated in it. The Bill, when passed, will give people the right to seek information from Government establishments.

Another important decision taken was to amend the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, giving equal rights to daughters in ancestral property. The Child Marriage restraint Act, 1929, will also be repealed and a new Prevention of Child Marriage Bill, 2004, introduced. "The enactment of the proposed legislation will implement the recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Women substantially and would help in bringing the social change in society," Mr. Reddy said.

It was also decided to confer the status of central university to Allahabad University. The Lokpal Bill too has been referred to a Group of Ministers, the constitution of which will be decided before it is introduced in Parliament, Mr. Reddy said.

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