-The Telegraph Despite being prohibited the practice remains widespread and unmodernised, and violators are not punished The death of five sanitation workers in Delhi is a grim reminder of the hostile conditions that confront manual scavenging in India. Manual scavenging has been prohibited by law. Yet, it remains unchecked. There is also a distinct lack of effort to make this objectionable occupation safe and dignified. This is the net result of institutional...

-The New Indian Express In August, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) released the All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey, 2016-17 In August, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) released the All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey, 2016-17. It has revealing data about the worsening situation of farmers and villages across India. The survey shows that the average monthly income of rural households in India is...

-The Hindu The challenges for the success of Ayushman Bharat are more than just at the financial and infrastructural level On September 24, the government launched the grand government-funded healthcare scheme, the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). While some see its ambitious goals as its main strength, others are sceptical given the inadequate funding for the scheme, the weak infrastructure of primary health care centres, and the time required for...

-Hindustan Times According to records of Delhi’s Directorate of Education (DoE), of the 48,122 seats reserved under the so-called economically weaker section or EWS category in private schools at the entry level, only 35,500 seats have been filled. New Delhi: Almost 13,000 nursery seats reserved for children from economically disadvantaged households in private schools in the 2018-19 academic session remain unfilled in the city with less than two months remaining for the...

-Livemint.com With shrinking farm sizes and lack of accurate land records, farmers find it difficult to generate enough income to provide for their households From farm subsidies to farm loan waivers, the Indian government spends crores on farmer welfare, but these efforts will be inadequate unless they can tackle an increasingly daunting barrier: lack of land. The provisional figures from the latest agriculture census reveals how land—the most critical input for agriculture—is...