-The Hindu We won’t allow anyone to cut our trees, say the women of Balarampur village For three generations now, and spanning 40 years, Chaturi Sahu, 70, has been unfailingly sending one male member from her family to patrol the nearby Jhinkargadi forest to ensure that its trees and shrubs are untouched. Year after year, her father-in-law, husband and son, who are part of the foot soldiers of Balarampur, a nondescript village in...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: Widespread privatisation of public goods in many societies is systematically eliminating human rights protections and further marginalising those living in poverty, according to a new report, released by the United Nations (UN). The 25-page report by the UN is eye-opening in the light of Indian government think-tank Niti Aayog releasing Guidelines for Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for tackling Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in government-run district hospitals. Niti Aayog's...

-The Hindu Vantangiyas, who derive their name from a Burmese tradition of hill cultivation, have lived in tin shacks without toilets for decades Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh): There is no proper road to Jungle Tinkonia-3. As its name suggests, one must pass a woodland of sal and teak trees to reach it. The situation gets even more precarious during monsoons and medical emergencies, as the village does not have any health centre. Its infrastructure is...

-Livemint.com Merely putting the labour component of other projects in MGNREGA may not lead to any value addition There are several studies and reports that clearly show that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has accomplished its objectives to a large extent. Initially, this government derided the programme as some kind of a dole—but it later acknowledged its role in rural development, if reluctantly. The chief ministers’ council in...

-TheWire.in Mexican economist David Barkin on India's neoliberal economics, growing inequalities, agrarian distress and more. David Barkin is Professor of Economics at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City. He received his doctorate in economics from Yale University and was awarded the National Prize in Political Economics in 1979 for his analysis of inflation in Mexico. His research has focused on the development of an alternative to the capitalist economic model. In an...