-Civil Society News New Delhi: In 1974, Dr Samir Chaudhuri, a paediatrician working in Kolkata’s slums, founded Child in Need Institute (CINI) to tackle the many dimensions of child malnutrition. It struck him at the time that malnutrition wasn’t just a clinical problem but a complex phenomenon rooted in gender issues. Over the years, led by Dr Chaudhuri, CINI developed deep understanding of the social, economic and political underpinnings of malnutrition...

-Livemint.com India needs to defend policies that make agriculture remunerative and stand by its poor at this stage of development In an attempt to combat rural distress, the Union budget announced this year by finance minister Arun Jaitley promised a new deal to farmers—minimum support prices (MSP) that would be 150% of the cost of production. The government is expected to announce the first set of support prices under the new policy in...

If someone is a rural male, what occupation would he prefer? A rational person might say that depending on the highest prevailing daily wage rate in a particular occupation (which is subject to seasonal variation) vis-à-vis the rest, he will make his choice.   An exercise undertaken by the Inclusive Media for Change team based on the latest available month-wise wage data of rural men shows that there is a seasonal variation...

-Business Standard 1.5 million quintals of tur to be imported under MoU between India and Mozambique, even as farmers hold 4 times more Mumbai: In what appears to be another instance of farmers’ interests being hurt for no fault of their own. And this time, too, it's pulses. The year 2016-17 was a crisis year for pulses, with prices skyrocketing past the Rs 100-150 per kg mark amid crop failure. In the following years,...

-Press release by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, dated 19 May, 2018 Yesterday’s much awaited Supreme Court judgement in the Swaraj Abhiyan PIL has let down millions of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) workers - the most marginalised citizens of India who need employment and social security.  The Court has ignored the wealth of evidence against the brazen violations of the legal entitlements of NREGA workers and has allowed the Central Government...