-Economic and Political Weekly 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. Vipul Mudgal (vipulmudgal@gmail.com) heads the Inclusive Media for Change project at the Centre...
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Centre moves to revamp MGNREGA, check corruption
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In its first step towards restructuring MGNREGA, the government on Wednesday announced that the material-labour expenditure ratio in the scheme would be changed from 60:40% to 49:51%. This is in keeping with government's focus on asset creation along with job opportunities in the scheme. The government is also planning to monitor the work under the scheme through the use of space technology and provide wages...
More »India’s best hope is that the Budget due February 2015 chooses growth and jobs -Arvind Panagariya
-The Times of India Blog The presidential address to Parliament on June 9, 2014 had focussed nearly exclusively on projects and schemes, eschewing policy. Therefore, many had eagerly awaited the budget speech for a policy vision of the new government. Unfortunately, it too left observers guessing on whether the government would tackle tough reforms or rely principally on better implementation. Had this been the budget of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), arguably...
More »Land Ahoy!
-Tehelka Bureau Though well-meaning, the new Land Acquisition Act is far from being a perfect legislation. But the urgency to amend a law even before a real field test signals a larger agenda. By all counts, this was expected. Long before he became the BJP and subsequently the nation's chosen one, Narendra Modi had made it clear that his model of development gains from the ease of doing business. Then, days ahead...
More »Healthcare pie: Rs 5,000 for a bureaucrat or politician; Rs 180 for villager -Rema Nagarajan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: When it comes to healthcare, some are more equal than others for the government. Under the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) which covers central government employees, including serving and retired babus, current and ex-members of Parliament and the judiciary, the annual per capita expenditure is more than Rs 5,000. In contrast, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which caters to the rural masses, spends just...
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