Are millions of Indians being forced to leave their villages for cities and towns because there aren't enough jobs at home and farm incomes are drying up? Is this "distress migration" unprecedented in India's history? Award-winning journalist P Sainath thinks so. Examining the latest census data, he finds that India's urban population has risen more (91 million more than in the 2001 census) than the rural population (90.6 million more than...
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The PDS in Rural Orissa: Against the Grain? by Ankita Aggarwal
A report from a sample survey of the functioning of the public distribution system in 12 villages in two districts in Orissa, a state usually associated with a poor PDS. While there are errors in exclusion and inclusion of households covered, there has been a vast improvement in operation of the PDS; below the poverty line households seem to be receiving their entitlements. The households also express a strong preference...
More »Million of orphans and counting.… by Bindu Shajan Perappadan
The Central Zone that comprises the three States of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh has about six million orphan children (under 18 years), and this figure will shoot up to 7.6 million by 2021, says a new study, “India -- National Child Vulnerability Situation Analysis Report”, conducted by SOS Children's Villages of India. The Central Zone is followed closely by the East Zone which has about 5.20 million orphans and...
More »Delhi home to over 50,000 street children
-The Hindu More than half of these children are illiterate The streets of Delhi are home to more than 50,000 children, according to a census conducted by non-government organisation Save the Children and Institute for Human Development. Conducted in July and August last year, the findings of the census have been compiled into an extensive report titled “Surviving the Streets” which was recently presented to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The study used...
More »Poor countries host 80 per cent of world’s refugees, UN report shows
-The United Nations An estimated 80 per cent of the world’s refugees now live in developing countries and yet anti-refugee sentiment is growing in many industrialized nations, the United Nations said in a report unveiled today, urging the richer States to address the deep imbalance. In absolute terms and in relation to the size of their economies, poor countries shoulder a disproportionate refugee burden, according to the 2010 Global Trends report...
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