-TheHoot.org Every winter stories are run about how the homeless need more shelters. During the monsoon and the heat – media silence. On World Homeless Day, BHARAT DOGRA argues for less seasonal coverage The homeless constitute the poorest section of our urban population and they live pretty close to where the media is based. Some of the highest concentrations of homeless people are within a 10 kms radius of the media hub...
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Not So Clean -Sangita Vyas
-The Indian Express Swachh Bharat completes two years, but eliminating open defecation is a distant goal. October 2 marks the second anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Announcing a goal of eliminating open defecation by 2019 was a great idea, but now that we are 40 per cent through India’s flagship sanitation campaign, it is a good time to assess how much progress the SBM has made. Unfortunately, it is impossible...
More »No feel for the pulse -Ashok Gulati & Siraj Hussain
-The Indian Express The government has failed to provide the right incentives to farmers India’s quest for self-sufficiency in pulses goes back, at least, to 1990-1991, when pulses were incorporated in the technology mission on oilseeds. In 1992, and 1995-1996, oil palm and maize were added to the mission, which was re-christened the Integrated Scheme on Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil palm and Maize (ISOPOM). In 2007, ISOPOM’s pulses component was merged with...
More »Yes, teaching reading is rocket science -Amrita Patwardhan
-The Hindu Business Line Although literacy levels are improving, there’s not enough learning happening. This calls for urgent Attention This year, marks the 50th year of International Literacy Day. In 1966, UNESCO declared September 8 as International Literacy Day to “mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities and societies”. At Independence in 1947, India had a literacy rate of 12 per cent, which stands today...
More »Plucking the low-hanging fruit of agricultural subsidy reform -Pravesh Sharma
-The Indian Express The Centre is pushing and many states are implementing Direct Benefit Transfers – and encountering little political opposition The entire focus on ushering in a direct benefit transfer (DBT) regime for delivering subsidies to the targeted populations has so far centered around cooking gas, and to some extent, on isolated pilot experiments with food subsidy. Agriculture subsidies, especially on inputs other than fertilisers, have largely escaped Attention in...
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