-Outlook New Delhi: 700 slum clusters will be provided toilet facilities by Delhi government as part of the 'Swachh Bharat' campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The decision was taken in view of shortage of toilet blocks in jhuggi jhopri (JJ) colonies, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board's (DUSIB) Chief Executive Officer, Amar Nath, said today. DUSIB has already prepared a data base of toilet blocks available in JJ clusters as well as...

-The Business Standard A five-state study on the effects of digitisation shows the poor in the country love knowledge-based programmes India's poor love digitisation for the choice and quality it offers. Discovery and National Geographic are the most popular channels in some of the poorest parts of the country, largely because the knowledge-based programmes on these channels are considered a substitute for decent education. And, the poor love shows on agriculture,...

-Employment News The article highlights the fact that the urban areas have failed to meet the demands of the increasing population pressure resulting in large gaps in provisioning of basic amenities. Deprivation of such services has resulted in the expanding of Slums with conditions unfit for human habitation. This article suggests that the government must take into account the limitations of its interventions for the urban poor and address the challenges...

-Frontline   The United Nation's MDG report 2014 shows that despite India's significant economic progress, around one-third of the world's extremely poor people reside in the country. IT is raining development goals. As the period for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) draws to a close next year, discussions around these goals and what should replace them have reached fever pitch, with national governments, international organisations and representatives of civil society participating in them. Of...

-Outlook Education remains a preserve of the rich as India's states renege on the 25 per cent reservation the RTE Act promises to the poor It is a day of trepidation for Prakash. A short, gawky man in his early thirties, he is among the several anxious parents waiting at a Bangalore school for the draw of lots to commence, he perhaps more anxious than the others. The process begins finally,...