-The Hindu Its lustre is fading as there are threats from emerging social and environmental risks, but the question is how Kerala has long been recognised to have done many things right. For years the darling of development experts, non-governmental organisations and social activists, the ‘Kerala Model’ seemed to show that impressive levels of Human Development indicators — in health, education and quality of life, comparable even to some rich countries —...

-The Hindu The government seems to have prioritised meeting its fiscal deficit targets rather than using this opportunity to signal a path of employment-centred and inclusive growth India continues to rank poorly in various global indices that reflect the quality of life, human capital or Human Development in the country, such as the Human Development Index (rank 131 out of 189 countries) and the Global Hunger Index (rank 101 out of 116...

-IDROnline.org/ TheWire.in "The problem with Indian democracy is that despite the presence of millions of voters, the pool of decision makers get smaller and narrower at the top." Aruna Roy is a social activist and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). Her work and leadership led to the enactment of the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005—a landmark act that empowers citizens to demand transparency and accountability from government institutions....

In the month of January this year, more than 100 homeless persons died (please click here and here to access) in Delhi-NCR due to cold wave like conditions. Although a Delhi-based non-government organisation (NGO) Centre for Holistic Development (CHD) made that claim, and therefore asked the Chief Minister of Delhi to make proper arrangements for the homeless poor during winters, the officials of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB)...

-TheWire.in There is a need to set right the ‘national multidimensional poverty index’ framework to capture the true story of deprivation. The global sustainable development agenda demands that countries measure the population living in poverty and reduce it by at least half by 2030. So, in order to monitor progress on this critical development indicator, UNDP and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) compute what is called the ‘Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)’...