-The Financial Express The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the world’s largest anti-poverty programme, reduced poverty and empowered women but its success has been limited due to lack of work in some of the poorest states, according to a recent report. Comparing two states, Chhattisgarh (strong programme implementation) and Bihar (weak), a study by the National Council of Applied Economic Research and the University of Maryland found that nearly...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Over 15k people, top industrialists in online drive to prod MPs to legislate -Sidhartha & Surojit Gupta
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In probably a first-of-its-kind initiative, over 15,000 people, including the country's top industrialists have launched a signature campaign, urging lawmakers to allow Parliament to function, debate and legislate. Since its launch on Saturday, the petition on change.org has been signed by leading industry captains such as Rahul Bajaj, Infosys founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Pawan Munjal of Hero MotoCorp, Adi Godrej, Kiran Majumdar-Shaw, GVK's GV Sanjaya Reddy, GE...
More »Slimming Down -Sudha Pillai
-The Indian Express Reduce Centrally sponsored schemes, specify their objectives and timelines. A Niti Aayog taskforce chaired by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has apparently recommended that 25 per cent of the funds under Centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) be made available to states as untied monies. If this recommendation is accepted, states would receive a total of Rs 42,000 crore during 2015-16 itself. This recommendation should be viewed in...
More »Policy with a farmer’s face -Ashok Gulati
-The Indian Express It is necessary to rescue public policy from its elitist bias, bring agriculture to its centre There is seldom any Independence Day speech where the prime minister, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, does not thank the jawans and kisans for their heroic role in securing our borders and ensuring food security. This year is unlikely to be different. Recall Lal Bahadur Shastri’s famous slogan, “Jai Jawan,...
More »Poor more prone to suicides than the rich, says NCRB -B Sivakumar
-The Times of India CHENNAI: Poor incomes, mounting debts and family issues drove a good number of those in the lower socioeconomic bracket to suicide. Data put out by the National Crime Records Bureau ( NCRB) for 2014 said nearly 70% of the suicides were by people earning less than Rs one lakh per annum. This disturbing trend hasn't changed much. On July 18, in a suicide pact, a 35-year-old cab driver and...
More »