Political and Social Issues:

Just as the Arab Spring, we have our own Nurses Spring.
Nurses working in private hospitals, one of the most disorganised groups in the services sector, have found new strength with this spring that is spreading.
- It's just about two months old, and the membership of the United Nurses' Association has reached 1.5 lakh working in about 400 hospitals.
There are innumerable hospitals where nurses are working for a pittance of Rs.1,000-Rs. 3,000, much below the minimum wages set by the government for the private sector
- One of the largest workforces in the State, across the country and beyond, nurses in the private sector have been the most exploited group.

To overcome the delay in payment of wages to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers in Jharkhand, allegedly owing to administrative apathy, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has piloted a project in Jharkhand.
- Under the project, online authentication and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) in respect of MGNREGS was conducted in three blocks of three districts.
For the first time in India, the Ratu block of Ranchi district has implemented cash payments for the MGNEGRS workers by a biometric scan based on the UID. The banks have upgraded software and system to enable the payment.
A micro ATM device will be installed in every village so that the beneficiary can save time and money as we came to know through our research that travelling to any bank costs the beneficiary a day's wage.
This process will prevent rent-seeking and corruption, by giving the choice to the beneficiary

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced measures to protect the interests of mobile subscribers and strengthen complaint redress mechanism.
Issuing the new ‘Telecom Consumers Complaint Redressal Regulations, 2012', besides asking all operators to provide itemised bill on demand to their pre-paid customers, the regulator has called for the setting up of a toll-free consumer care number and change existing three-tier complaint redress mechanism of call centre, nodal centre and appellate authority to a two-tier one by doing away with the nodal officer.
According to TRAI, about 96 per cent of consumers are in the pre-paid category and unlike post-paid consumers, the pre-paid consumers do not get any bills for their usage and the amount charged.
- Service provider will have to give start-up kit (SUK) which will include the SIM card and mobile number, besides an abridged version of the citizen's charter.
If a consumer is not satisfied or his complaint remains unaddressed, he can approach the next tier – the Appellate Authority for redress of his complaints.
The regulations also provide for resolution of complaints by the service provider in a time-bound manner