Honey hubs to be created for SC/STs at Kodaikanal, Vadipatti and Kadayam Priority for small projects in the range of Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 3 lakh Emphasis on production of fly-ash bricks and palm products The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) plans to focus on creating employment opportunities for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) in rural areas of southern districts. The Central Government body plans to start new khadi institutions near their habitations...

Armed with integrated action plans for 35 Naxalite-affected districts in nine states, the Planning Commission is all set to approach the Union Cabinet for a proposed outlay of Rs 13,742 crore to wean away the tribals from sympathising with the Maoists through comprehensive infrastructure and economic development as well as proper implement of the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996 and related Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest...

In April, India’s Planning Commission accepted recommendations put forth by the so-called Tendulkar Committee on a new poverty headcount for the country. Constituted by the Planning Commission under economist Suresh D Tendulkar, the committee, after four years and a new methodology, arrived at a new figure for the number of Indians living below the poverty line: 37.2 percent, ten points higher than the previous official figure. With the government’s subsequent...

A significant proportion of the country’s official below poverty line (BPL) population cannot be termed ‘poor’. Fathom this: around a fourth of the 14 million odd BPL households in urban India own a two-wheeler, a third of them a colour TV and almost two-third a pressure cooker. Almost one in five urban BPL households has at least one well-educated, graduate or above, member. The 56 million-strong rural BPL population too exhibits...

One of the first issues the reconstituted National Advisory Council (NAC) will have to deal with is the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA). Given the inability of the government to control food prices that remain unacceptably high and the scant regard the ruling United Progressive Alliance has shown for food security, it should be taken up on an urgent basis if the government is to preserve its credibility among...