-DNA Elections 2014 are around the corner. And when elections draw nearer, the Government suddenly wakes up and thinks of its duties towards the people. This year is no exception. Whether it is the one-rank-one-pension for the retired defence personnel or the legal monthly entitlement of 5kg of wheat/rice/millet for poor households under the national Food Security Act or the announcement of a 7th Pay Commission along with a DA instalment...

-Outlook As subsidies for the poor continue to be under attack, a ground-up report from 10-states shows how well welfare schemes have worked over the last 10 years. Ahead of Elections 2014, rights-based welfare schemes are under attack. To those who argue ‘Dolenomics' doesn't work, a survey of five schemes in 10 states shows that the Rs 1,68,478 crore annually the nation spends is making a real and tangible difference on...

-NewsYaps.com In 2005, the Parliament of India enacted a landmark legislation known as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). The aim of this law, renamed ‘Mahatma Gandhi NREGA' in 2009, was to create a legally enforceable guarantee of employment for any adult from rural India willing to do casual manual labour on local public works at a statutory minimum wage. Public works programmes have long been implemented in India...

-The Business Standard The rural non-farm sector has emerged as India's largest job creator since 2000 and needs to play a pivotal role in our structural transformation Job creation has to be a pressing priority for any new government. But it is worthwhile trying to understand the nature of our employment challenge. The unemployment rate, as understood in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) world, is not a very useful indicator...

-Live Mint Melinda Gates says India is closer than ever to the goal of eradicating poverty and improving access to health for all New Delhi: Philanthropist Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and one of the most influential women in the world, maintains that India is closer than ever to the goal of eradicating poverty and improving access to health for all. In their annual letter, published...