-Down to Earth Jean Dreze on why he prefers a solidarity society, rather than a welfare state * Are you actually an advocate of the welfare state? Ideally, I would prefer to think in terms of a solidarity society rather than welfare state, for two reasons. First, private non-profit institutions can play a very useful role in the social sector. In many countries, some of the best schools and health centres are run...

-The Economic Times Balasaheb Ghadge, who works as a clerk in the village panchayat in the tribal belt of Andar Maval in Maharashtra and also runs a small kirana store, was a staunch supporter of demonetisation when it was announced. A year on, he is worried that poor farmers continue to suffer from the government’s move. “At the national level, the decision must have yielded results, but for us, life has...

-The Indian Express As incidents of violence against Dalits mount in Gujarat, it is worth recalling the India of Ambedkar’s dreams The steps, if any, initiated by the government through a special session of the Lok Sabha on atrocities after the Una incident last year, have not had an impact on the violence against Dalits in Gujarat. On the contrary, there has been an increase of incidents which the Supreme Court had...

-The Hindu The construction of this dam is an engineering marvel and every engineering student should study it, the Prime Minister says Ahmedabad/ Dabhoi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dedicated the Narmada Dam project to the nation on his Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dedicated the Narmada dam project to the nation on his birthday, calling it Gujarat’s lifeline that has been completed despite many hurdles. Many people had “conspired”...

-Economic and Political Weekly Nandini Nayak (nandini@aud.ac.in) teaches at the School of Development Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi and is principal investigator of the research project on which this article is based. Shikha Nehra (shikhanehra92@gmail.com) is a graduate student at Ambedkar University Delhi and a research assistant on the same project. The renewed Public Distribution System (PDS) under the “rights-based” National Food Security Act, 2013 has increased access to foodgrains in Delhi. However,...