-The Indian Express Government has an opportunity to enhance use of social audit to monitor schemes In contrast to its rhetoric, the current government’s record on transparency, accountability, and citizen participation has been uninspiring. Even essential laws such as the Lok Pal and the Whistle Blower Protection Act are yet to be operationalised. However, recent developments on social audits, the conduct of which actually finds a place in the BJP’s 2014...

-The Indian Express For a country that aims to be a regional power, the data on child nutrition confirms that the situation is abysmal. Save for Bihar, six of the seven states with the highest incidence of stunting, for example, are ruled by the BJP or the BJP and its allies – Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Bihar. After an agonising wait of over ten years, the...

-The Hindu Business Line Data from 14 major States show that economic growth has bypassed most of the poor children in the country Child health is basic to building the well-being and capabilities of the future of a growing nation. It is a great social responsibility in which the state has to play a critical role. It appears this primary responsibility is forgotten in the single-minded pursuit of economic growth. This article...

-The Indian Express As per data being examined by the committee, the minimum wages paid to agricultural workers are significantly higher than MGNREGA wages in Karnataka, Punjab, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Mizoram, and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands. THE COMMITTEE for revision of wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act (MGNREGA) has found that minimum agricultural wages are higher than MGNREGA wages in 15 states. An upward revision...

-The Hindu Business Line Urban-rural wage gap highest in the North-East and northern States New Delhi: That rural employment, particularly in the informal sector, will fetch lower incomes, does not always hold true. In fact, hired workers in the informal sector in rural Gujarat earned twice as much as their counterparts in urban areas, a recent report of the National Sample Survey Organisation show. Hired workers in rural Gujarat’s informal sectors earned about...