-Down to Earth The upcoming budget will see many schemes being brought under the rural employment programme; a direct cash transfer may be declared to top this up Union Budget 2020-21 will be a landmark for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Not just because India is going through an economic slowdown, but also for the fact that it will herald a countdown for many of his ambitious promises that come with prime ministerial...

-Down to Earth Millions of Indian households transfer poverty to the next generation, making poverty eradication nearly impossible Something that has haunted me through my 22 years of reporting the rural India is how some people in certain regions always remain poor. I have visited them multiple times for various assignments, but have always found them talking about poverty. Like me, they too always wonder: “Why do we remain poor?” I have mostly reported...

-The Indian Express A reworking of curriculum and activities is urgently needed for the age band from four to eight. ASER 2019 report underlines this While the importance of good early childhood education has been known for a long time, the draft New Education Policy (released in June 2019) links the “severe learning crisis” to what goes on with young children in India. The voluminous policy document points out that close...

-Scroll.in The figures breached the tolerance band of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee Retail inflation rose to 7.35% in December from 5.54% the month before, government data showed on Monday. The rate of inflation exceeded the tolerance band of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, Bloomberg reported. At the current level, retail inflation is at its highest since July 2014. Inflation was pushed up by a rise in...

-Livemint.com New government data show India saw fewer cases of farmers taking their lives in 2018 than the year before. But this doesn’t mean rural distress is down. Much needs to be done It is tempting to relate the decline in the number of farmer suicides in 2018, as reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), to an abatement in rural distress. Such a temptation should, however, be tempered. There have...