-The Times of India Despite more access to education, better household amenities and increased incomes, the economic gap between upper Castes and dalit and tribal communities continues unchanged over the years, according to latest economic data from the NSSO. A comparison of average monthly expenditure of households belonging to dalit communities with upper Caste households showed that in rural areas there was a gap of about 38% in 1999-2000 which changed only...

-Maintream Weekly In order to reduce and remove the many-sided disadvantages and problems faced by Dalits and adivasis, sub-plans for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been introduced to ensure adequate and justice-based availability of funds for these communities. Summarising the basic idea and rationale for this, the Planning Commission says: “the persistence of socio-economic backwardness of the SCs and STs in spite of the development efforts had warranted a special...

Amidst brouhaha over the importance of MGNREGA, the recently released 68th Round National Sample Survey (NSS) report clears the air whether the MGNREGA had been beneficial to employment of persons from Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Based on a survey of nearly 59,700 households in rural areas of India, the NSS 68th Round data shows that the proportion of persons who got job in...

-The Hindu Bengaluru: During the survey, enumerators will be asking 55 questions to the household and not all questions are mandatory to be answered. The first Caste census, which will be conducted across the State over the next 20 days, got underway on Saturday. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy flagged off the census in Bengaluru in the presence of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Commissioner M. Laxminarayana and Backward Classes Commissioner H. Kantharaj. Mr. Reddy...

-PTI Chandigarh: Punjab government will provide water connections and toilets to every rural household in the next six years, with the World Bank sanctioning a loan of Rs 1,540 crore for water and sanitation facilities in the state. The World Bank recently approved a Rs 1,540 crore loan for the 'Punjab Rural Water and Sanitation Sector Improvement Project' to help the state improve its water and sanitation services and also reduce open...