-The Hindu While the view about the Narendra Modi government’s culpability differs, the anger against the Nitish Kumar government on lack of employment opportunities is all pervasive Purnia/ Kishanganj: Seven months on after lakhs of migrant workers returned to their homes, many on foot, following the announcement of sudden and extended nationwide lockdown, the narrative on the ground in Bihar is divided over religious and caste lines. There are no official figures on...

-The Indian Express The Punjab government claims that if the earnings of these boards are stopped, the state will find it difficult to maintain over 31,000-km of rural link roads as well as farmers’ welfare schemes, including the debt relief scheme. Jalandhar: The implementation of Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, which removes restrictions on farmers selling agri-produce outside the notified Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) yards, has not...

Multidimensional poverty is about non-monetary poverty and is strongly associated with the challenges of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although previously defined only in monetary terms, poverty is now understood to include the lived reality of people’s experiences and the multiple deprivations they face. India’s multidimensional headcount ratio (H) i.e. the proportion or incidence of people (within a given population) who experience multiple deprivations has reduced from 55.1 percent to...

-The Hindu What we have done so far, and what all remains to be done The global pandemic is marching on. As I had said at the JRD Tata Oration, hosted by the Population Foundation of India on its 50th anniversary, of the lessons I have learned over the last nine or 10 months, the most important one is the significance of investing in public health and primary healthcare. Countries that invested...

-Down to Earth Creation of unregulated private points of sale will only ensure that the produce continues to be sold as before — at below MSP and without any government support More than 86 per cent farmers in India own or cultivate on less than two acres of land and have little surplus to sell. They are the victims of middlemen (arthiya) at the mandis (local exchange markets) and are forced, by...