Finally, there's some good news for the United Progressive Alliance government. Consumption numbers for the past six years show that real incomes have grown much faster under the Congress-led coalition than during the National Democratic Alliance era. What's more, poverty is trending down and rural wages are growing smartly. The 2009-10 survey by the National Statistical Survey Organisation (NSSO) shows real spending by each person in Rural India rose 6.3%...

-Express News Service   Affirming the trend of migration of people from villages to big cities and towns, the provisional figures of Census 2011 reveal that for the first time, India has added more people in urban centres than in rural areas over a decade. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of people living in urban areas increased from 286 million to 377 million, a rise of 91 million. In comparison, the...

-The Times of India   As many as 19 government officials have been penalized for not properly carrying out work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( NREGA) in Sikar district. District collector Dharmendra Bhatnagar imposed financial penalties on the employees including three assistant engineers, one junior engineer, nine gram sevaks and six gram employment assistant. The employees were accused of carrying out work of Rajiv Gandhi Sewa...

Fears on the rampant use of pre-natal sex determination technology in rural areas have been confirmed with census data indicating that child sex ratio (CSR) fell far more sharply in villages than in urban areas in the last decade. According to provision data on population, though the urban CSR is far worse than that in rural areas, the fall in CSR in rural areas is around four times than that in...

The challenge is to acknowledge the inappropriateness of the current health education and delivery systems, and refashion health care delivery relevant for the country. The confluence of recent events is an opportunity to rethink health systems. The new Medical Council of India, the proposed Human Resources in Health Bill, the penultimate year of the National Rural Health Mission, preparations for the 12th Five Year Plan and the promise of a significant...