Discretionary fiscal spending needs to be raised further by allocating more towards MGNREGA -Shambhu Ghatak and Nabarun Sengupta (Inclusive Media for Change, February, 2021)

The article, among other things, looks at the rationale behind increasing MGNREGA spending, the difference between approved labour budget and MGNREGA work actually generated, MGNREGA work being employment of the last resort for the poor and the marginalised, average days of work provided by MGNREGA for each household, total number of individuals benefiting from MGNREGA, average wage rate of MGNREGA workers and various types of work done under MGNREGA.

नरेगा के आधिकारिक आंकड़ों के आईने में पर्यावरण, जीविका और रोजगार सृजन- चंदन श्रीवास्तव, शंभु घटक( इन्क्लूसिव मीडिया फॉर चेंज, मई, 2015)

साल 2014 के अक्तूबर महीने में मीडिया में खबरें आयीं कि राष्ट्रीय ग्रामीण रोजगार गारंटी योजना के अमल को देश के 200 सर्वाधिक गरीब जिलों तक सीमित करना चाहती है. इस खबर ने अर्थशास्त्रियों के बीच एक बहस का रुप लिया. बहस के एक सिरे पर कहा जा रहा था कि नरेगा में दी जानी वाली मजदूरी के 1 रुपये पर पूरे पांच रुपये का खर्चा बैठता है सो यह योजना अलाभकारी है तो दूसरे सिरे पर कहा जा रहा था कि नरेगा सिर्फ आमदनी के हस्तांतरण का जरिया भर नहीं बल्कि बहुस सी आर्थिक, सामाजिक, शैक्षणिक, पर्यावरणीय तथा सांगठनिक गतिविधियों की संभावनाशील आधारशिला है. प्रस्तुत आलेख में इस बहस का संज्ञान लेते हुए यह जानने की कोशिश की गई है कि एक रोजगार कार्यक्रम के रुप में नरेगा क्या सचमुच आमदनी के हस्तांतरण का अलाभकारी जरिया है या नरेगा द्वारा सृजित संपदाओं का विशेष उत्पादक मोल है जिससे संबंधित गणनाएं और आकलन अक्सर मीडिया में रिपोर्ट होने से रह जाती हैं. आलेख का प्रयास नरेगा के अंतर्गत जीविका और रोजगार सृजन के क्रम में पर्यावरण के पक्ष को मिलते महत्व और उसके उत्पादक पक्ष को रेखांकित करना है.

'Son preference' is spreading to tribal population -Shambhu Ghatak (Inclusive Media for Change, May, 2015)

Most of the reports that we find in the mainstream media about falling child sex ratio in India pertain to non-tribal areas. It is assumed that tribals have been better than non-tribals in terms of child sex ratio and gender equality. Hence the tendency of the mainstream media is to ignore the new trends emerging for child sex ratio in tribal populated states such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and North Eastern states. Attempt in this research is to reanalyze data specifically emerging from tribal India. Once again the approach is to compile data, tables, charts etc. in such a way that it is of immediate use to journalists of mainstream media. However, a cursory look at the data compiled in the present report gives us an idea that these issues have been more or less ignored by not only the national media but also the language media of these states.

Trends of undernutrition in children under 5 years of age -Shambhu Ghatak (Inclusive Media for Change, May, 2015)

The present research takes into account inadequacy in the media coverage of undernutrition. The attempt in this research is to bring together all those publications and reports brought out by expert committees, multilateral agencies and government ministries in such a way that the data is reanalyzed, juxtaposed and compiled to get a clearer picture of the emerging trends. The most important part of this research is to first make a sense of the available government data and subsequently present it in ways helpful to the reporters of mainstream media. This is an ongoing work and every attempt has been made to collect feedback in order to improve it further.

Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal (EPW, 2 August, 2014)

The emphasis on use of digital technologies to bridge the "rural-urban gap" in the union budget is limited to high talk and minimal allocations. The need for a more comprehensive and peoples' participation-oriented rural action plan should have been the focus while setting sectoral allocations, but that is not to be in this mid-year budget.

Rural Coverage in Hindi and English Dailies (EPW August 27, 2011)

This study of three each of India’s highest circulated English and Hindi dailies finds that they devote only a minuscule proportion of their total coverage (about 2%) to rural India’s issues, crises and anxieties. Even this low count could be misleading because most rural news is not about the farmers/villagers or about their concerns related to land, livestock, resources or farming. The content analysis of 968 news items shows that 36% of the coverage goes to issues of violence, accidents, crime or disasters. Less than 28% is about agrarian themes while 15% is about hunger, suicides, malnutrition, distress migration, displacement, or farmers’ movements. The English newspapers had more coverage of rural distress than the Hindi ones. The authoritative sources quoted most often in the routine news tend to belong to the establishment.