-TheWire.in Much was expected from the Union Budget 2022 which has come at a time when the Indian economy is facing an economic turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic and battling widespread unemployment and inflation. High hopes were pinned on this year’s budget as the country saw young people protesting for Railway jobs, farmers protesting for the government to address their loss of incomes, micro-sector producers as they faced closures and PSU...

-The Hindu High demand in migrant destination States, not source States: it says Demand for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme has dropped from the peak of the first lockdown, but is still higher than pre-COVID levels, the Department of Economic Affairs said in its annual Economic Survey, noting that this is “an indicator of rural labour markets”. However, it cautioned against drawing conclusions about the movement...

-TheWire.in With revenues of the government expanding significantly, this was an opportunity to present a more expansive budget. Unfortunately, the budget made a clear choice. Unlike last year, this year expectations from Budget 2022-23 with respect to the social sector – particularly with respect to schemes for nutrition – were low. While India relied heavily during the peak of the pandemic last year on its welfare architecture, trends on the release of funds...

-The Hindu The Government needs to stop India’s avalanching slide into a grossly divided society, made worse by the pandemic On January 17, 2022, Oxfam International presented its annual global “Inequality Report”. Titled Inequality Kills, the report calculated and presented the quantum growth in wealth of a minuscule few, and the simultaneous impoverishment of millions of working people. During the novel coronavirus pandemic, the report reveals, more than half the world’s new...

-Financial Express With the fertility rate falling below replacement, challenges of higher dependency, burgeoning healthcare and social security needs will emerge. India must mount the necessary policy-response The time has come for India to turn a new leaf on population policy. The country’s fertility rate has already fallen below the replacement level, 2, according to the latest data from the National Family Health Survey, which was largely collected before the nation felt...