-The Telegraph New Delhi: Finance minister Arun Jaitley has slashed the overall allocation for Dalits and tribals in his budget compared with last year's proposals in a trend critics fear could see the "last man" gradually becoming the "lost man". The media, too, came in for criticism for giving the "impression" that the country had no SC/ST citizens. Jaitley yesterday set aside Rs 30,851 crore for Scheduled Castes and Rs 19,980 crore for...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Anaemic allocation leaves healthcare gasping for more -Smriti Kak Ramachandran
-The Hindu Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's announcement of new AIIMS-like institutions, tax sops for those who buy health insurance, and Rs. 33,150 crore allocation has given the health sector little to cheer. Though the draft of the government's new national health policy wants public health expenditure to increase to 2.5 per cent of the GDP, the allocation seems insufficient to meet the government's ambitious universal health assurance mission that includes free...
More »Medha Patkar, social activist, interviewed by Gargi Parsai
-The Hindu Interview with social activist Medha Patkar on why she opposes the Land Bill proposed by the Centre Social activist Medha Patkar has been in the forefront of the struggle for the rights and rehabilitation of project-displaced populations for over two decades, and has relentlessly pursued the formulation of a national rehabilitation policy. She spoke to Gargi Parsai at the site of the agitation in Delhi about the pitfalls in the...
More »Govt doesn’t allocate plan outlays for dalits, adivasis -Subodh Varma
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: All governments till now, including the present one, have promised that they will do their utmost to uplift dalits and adivasis who make up about 24% of India's population and generally occupy the lowest rung of the social and economic hierarchy. One way of fulfilling this eternal promise has been the system of specially earmarking funds from the Five Year Plan outlays for dalits and...
More »Highlights of Economic Survey 2014-15
-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Finance Economic Outlook, Prospects and Policy Challenges Macroeconomic fundamentals in 2014-15 have dramatically improved. Highlights are: * Inflation has declined by over 6 percentage points since late 2013. * The current account deficit has declined from a peak of 6.7 percent of GDP (in Q3, 2012-13) to an estimated 1.0 percent in the coming fiscal year. * Foreign portfolio flows have stabilized the rupee, exerting downward pressure on long-term interest...
More »