-Down to Earth The government will use its extensive network of women’s self-help groups to encourage the transition. The Andhra Pradesh government announced financial support to more than 70,000 women from scheduled castes (SC) to promote natural farming among marginal farmers. Natural farming excludes the application of chemicals and promotes traditional agricultural practices. It is regarded as particularly useful for smallholder farmers as it reduces dependency on purchased inputs.   A one-time subsidy of...

-Down to Earth A lot needs to be done to ensure faecal sludge is treated before reaching water source Are we losing focus of the Prime Minister’s dream project Swachh Bharat Mission (grameen)? Whatever the answer is, the fact is we cannot afford to do so.  In October 2019, rural India was declared open-defecation free. By this, the department of drinking water and sanitation under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti meant that...

-Newsclick.in The poorest, whose annual income surged by 183% between 2005 and 2016, have been most impacted by COVID-19, shows survey In a K-shaped economic recovery since COVID-19 hit India, there was a massive plunge of 53% in the annual income of the poorest 20% of Indian households from 2015-16 to 2020-21. Besides the drastic fall in their annual income, which was rising since 1995, the share of the poorest 20% in...

In the previous news alert, we looked at the under-nutrition problem in the Bundelkhand region in terms of 3 indicators -- proportion of children under 5 years who are stunted (height-for-age); proportion of children under 5 years who are wasted (weight-for-height); and proportion of children under 5 years who are underweight (weight-for-age). However, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data also indicates that severe under-nutrition like severe wasting and anaemia among...

-The Hindu Business Line/ NetworkIdeas.org In recent years, when the economy as a whole performed poorly, reports on how old and new businesspersons accumulated huge volumes of wealth in short timespans have been commonplace. There is also evidence that conspicuous consumption is on the rise. This has led observers to conclude that income and wealth inequality in India has increased. Hard evidence on the extent of that increase is difficult to...