-The Times of India Nineteen-year-old Radha Dhanewale is one of the most eligible brides in Maharashtra’s Solapur. Families of prospective grooms arrive at the family’s tiny house every day. It’s not her education, horoscope or income that puts her at the top of the list — it’s a ‘bidi card’ she holds. “I have rolled bidis with my mother since my school days. A few years ago, I got a bidi card from...
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Less than 1% get 100 days' work under MGNREGS
-The Times of India BHUBANESWAR: There are more than 62 lakh families in the state registered under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), but less than one per cent, or around 6,000, get the full quota of 100 days' work. The job scheme which has been running in the state since February 2006 provides a guarantee of 100 days of work in a financial year to rural households. If the...
More »Aadhaar or else -Jean Dreze
-The Indian Express In Jharkhand, ABBA was first made compulsory for PDS users in Ranchi district in August 2016. By June 2017, it was mandatory in about 80 per cent of the ration shops across the state. This meant, of course, that Aadhaar itself was compulsory — no Aadhaar, no food. Recent events in Jharkhand shed some useful light on the damage done by compulsory biometric authentication in the Public Distribution...
More »Delhi's shiny happy sarkari schools -P Anima
-The Hindu Business Line After decades of neglect, Delhi’s government schools are finally turning the page with much-needed improvements to facilities and teaching methods. But problems such as staff shortage and a broken primary education system refuse to go away easily Delhi’s bustling IP Extension has a familiar skyline — a linear arrangement of ageing residential complexes. A gleaming new building in their midst catches the eye. Until recently, the Rajkiya Sarvodaya...
More »Whiff of starvation in Jharkhand deaths -Shiv Sahay Singh
-The Hindu The public distribution system (PDS) and its disbursal of rations to the poor have come under the scanner in Jharkhand after three persons died recently, allegedly owing to lack of food. What happened? On September 28, Santoshi Kumari, an 11-year-old from Simdega district, died. Her mother, Koyli Devi, said the child died of hunger as the family was not getting rations under the State-run PDS for the past several months. The...
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