-Livemint.com Union Budget 2018 may be able to offer sops for big farmers but it would not be able to deal with the structural challenges facing India’s rural economy The results of the Gujarat elections, in which the opposition Congress outperformed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in rural constituencies, and the growing number of farmer agitations in the country have focused attention on rural India ahead of this year’s budget. But...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Following the grain trail: on India's public distribution system -Jean Dreze
-The Hindu Many States have initiated ‘reforms’ of the public distribution system that are hurting millions of people India’s public distribution system (PDS) is in danger of being derailed in several States across the country. Recent disruptions of the PDS have taken different forms, from compulsory biometric authentication to so-called direct benefit transfer (DBT). The consequences are alarming, but tend to go unreported. Biometric mix-ups Jharkhand is a prime example of this problem. By...
More »Vaccination rates among India's rich have dropped, the national family health survey shows -Nayantara Narayanan
-Scroll.in Meanwhile, 55% of all Indians do not go to public hospitals to seek treatment. In 2017, India saw much uproar over the state of health facilities and medical services in the country. Rumours about vaccine safety dogged immunisation campaigns in some states, child deaths in government hospitals have raised questions about the state of public health facilities across the country, and large corporate hospitals have come under the scanner for...
More »Delhi and Punjab richest states, Jain wealthiest community: National survey -Roshan Kishore
-Hindustan Times People in Delhi and Punjab are the richest, with more than 60% of their households in the top wealth quintile. Why is Gujarat like Christians and Delhi like Jains? The analogy has nothing to do with religious beliefs of these two states. However, the comparison holds if one were to compare wealth levels of the population in these two states with that of the two religious groups, on the basis of...
More »The map of rural deprivation -Santosh Mehrotra
-The Hindu For millions hit by agricultural distress, the escape to construction jobs is grinding to a halt With the Union Budget to be presented on February 1, it is hoped that the Finance Minister will make a significantly higher allocation for investment in infrastructure. It is vital for addressing rural distress. The Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) informed us that ‘landlessness and dependence on manual casual labour for a livelihood...
More »