-The Indian Express Biometric authentication by PDS dealers defeats the unique identity scheme’s purpose. An aborted scheme in Madhya Pradesh that relied on once-in-a-year authentication can curb exclusion errors. Aadhaar is in the news today partly because of security concerns and partly because of reports that the poor are unable to receive PDS rations because of failures in Aadhaar authentication. Here, we will focus on the latter with an eye to look...

-TheWire.in Earning less than a living wage, migrant workers resort to living in the open, in shared and cramped rented rooms, or within the workplace. The Union Budget, announced on February 1, has committed to provide assistance for building 3.7 million houses in urban areas in 2018-19 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). However, this does little to resolve India’s urban housing crisis, which affects the poorest and most marginalised populations...

-Down to Earth India requires policy changes to make millets an effective tool against malnutrition Nutrient-rich millets, which have been a crucial part of human diet since ancient times, have lost their importance due to globally commercialised agronomic practices to produce more foodgrains. Though awareness has been growing among the public in the recent years about the health benefits of a millet-based diet—high fibre, low carbohydrate, protein-rich and gluten-free—gaps persist on several...

-TheWire.in The Dalit and Adivasi community’s analysis of the budget shows gross under allocation – only 50.7% has been allocated towards targeted schemes for SCs and 51.24% for STs. On the 26th January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in the social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will recognize the principle of one man one...

-OrissaPost.com Raisuan (Odisha): Despite funds being spent from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) on development of mineral-bearing areas, people in several villages of tribal-dominated Keonjhar district are still deprived of safe drinking water.  Tribals allege lakhs of rupees are being misappropriated by officials in the name of development. The sorry state of the inhabitants of Sankari village under Bansapal block is a case in point. People belonging to the Bhuyan tribe live...