Budget 2011-12 belies hopes of effectively addressing the housing needs of the poor. It fails to provide the much-needed impetus to improve the supply of affordable housing for economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income groups (LIG), particularly those who live in the urban areas. About 99 per cent of housing shortage pertains to these two socio-economic categories. In absolute terms, by the end of 2012, the deficit will be as...

The Plan allocation for school education, especially for Right to Education (RTE), has seen a 40 per cent increase over last year. But the actual allocation is only a third of what should have gone for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan under the funds committed under the RTE Act. The RTE commitment of Rs 2.33 lakh crore to implement the Right to Edcuation was approved by the Planning Commission, by the ministry and...

Driven by good performance of agriculture and services sector, the Indian economy grew by 8.2 per cent in the third quarter of the current fiscal, up from 7.3 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago. According to the data released by the government on Monday, farm sector during the third quarter ending December, recorded a growth rate of 8.9 per cent, up from a decline of 1.6 per cent...

Poor allocation of funds to key social sectors shows the government’s lacklustre approach to inclusive growth. We are reaching the end of a remarkable fiscal year,” said the finance minister as he rose to present the Union Budget 2011-12. Agreeing with the government that the year gone by presented us with several opportunities and challenges to address critical concerns pertaining to the social sector, the overall sense is that this Budget,...

Shifting the focus away from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Union Budget has sought to give greater thrust to it other flagship programme Bharat Nirman, covering six sectors, by allocating an additional Rs. 10,000 crore for 2011-12 to provide rural broadband connectivity to all the 2.5 lakh panchayats within the next three years. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has made a total allocation of Rs. 58,000 crore, marking...