-IndiaSpend.com/ Scroll.in In the 2022 Budget, the Centre proposed to earmark Rs 1-lakh crore in interest-free loans for states, some of which will be used for developing infrastructure. In May 2021, when Cyclone Yaas hit the eastern coast of India, a hospital in Bihar’s capital Patna was inundated in the floods and patients had nowhere to go. In September 2021, parts of the national capital, Delhi, were waterlogged because of heavy rains...

-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...

-TheWire.in Despite clear instructions from the courts to provide foodgrains to migrant workers and economically vulnerable families, none of the 62 distribution centres checked were found to be distributing rations. New Delhi: The Delhi government’s claims to have adopted a scheme to provide rations to poor and marginalised communities – even if they do not possess ration cards – appears to be proving hollow as no distribution of rations is taking place,...

-The Hindu Business Line At present, panchayats make no contribution to the design of schemes. Their autonomy is negligible. This needs to change Decentralisation has long been recognised as an efficient instrument for promoting economic democracy, and delivering services to meet the needs of people. There are three different channels for decentralisation — political, administrative and fiscal. Political decentralisation promotes trust and cooperation between government agencies and citizens. Administrative decentralisation enables authority...

-Newsclick.in A guaranteed MSP system will also reduce public storage costs/wastage if it is complemented by a universal public distribution system. The year-long protest by farmers and workers compelled the Centre to repeal the three contentious farm laws, which were designed to further corporate encroachment in agriculture, on November 29. On December 11, the protest ended but not before the protesters reiterated their demand for a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price...