-The Telegraph Ranchi: The Aadhaar-enabled public distribution system (PDS) launched in Ranchi on pilot basis threw up a tragic loophole today when around 50 leprosy patients turned up at their ward councillor's office, saying they had not received ration for the past three months as they lacked thumbs and fingers to verify their biometric identity. The 50-odd leprosy patients, including women, told ward 43 councillor Chanda Devi their very survival was at...
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Andhra Pradesh becomes second state to achieve 100% electrification
-PTI N Chandrababu Naidu said access to electricity was a key socio-economic development indicator, but this was an area where there was still a significant gap in India. Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has become the second state in the country after Gujarat to achieve 100 per cent electrification of households, a latest report has said. JM Financials published the report based on a national-level survey on electrification in various states. Discussing this through a tele-conference with top officials...
More »Dark clouds over the PDS -Jean Dreze
-The Hindu The imposition of Aadhaar-based biometric authentication in the Public Distribution System threatens to disrupt recent progress with PDS reforms. It also deprives millions of people of essential food entitlements. India’s Public Distribution System (PDS) has improved steadily during the last 10 years. The system used to be most ineffective and corruption-ridden, with leakages of around 50 per cent at the national level, going up to 80 or 90 per cent...
More »Sikkim is India's cleanest state, Jharkhand comes last in Swachhta Survey
-NDTV Sikkim, the small north eastern hill state, is the cleanest in India, with Kerala coming in a close second, according to a Swachhta (cleanliness) survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on the condition of sanitation in rural areas of 26 states. Chhattisgarh and neighbouring Jharkhand placed last in the survey, which was carried out last year. “A survey on Swachhta status was conducted by NSSO during May-June 2015 covering...
More »Retaining MGNREGA's core -Brinda Karat
-The Hindu Held to account by the Supreme Court, the Central government is using opaque methods to change the key provisions of the employment guarantee scheme and make it targeted instead of universal. There is a pithy saying in Hindi that the elephant has two sets of teeth, one for show and the other to eat. This seems an apt description of the approach of the Narendra Modi government towards the implementation...
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