-Down to Earth India's first PM born after Independence will face the old problem of poverty eradication India may have its first post-Independence-born prime minister this June. But what difference would it make in terms of the country's development agenda? How will the new prime minister face the challenges that have been there since before Independence? Or, what are the developmental challenges the new prime minister may find difficult to address? Arguably,...
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Agriculture, a new story-Deepender Singh Hooda
-The Indian Express Contrary to the popular narrative, the second green revolution is underway. A dramatic turnaround of agriculture, India's most important sector, has gone largely unheralded. Contrary to the popular narrative, agriculture has been transformed in the last 10 years. The second green revolution is underway. At the end of the second tenure of the UPA and after a decade of persistent work, we are witnessing record agricultural outputs for every...
More »MGNREGA: A tale of rural revival -Varad Pande and Neelakshi Mann
-Live Mint Rural livelihoods have improved because of MGNREGA. It is wrong to say the scheme has not worked If some recent news articles are to be believed, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a scheme that costs less than 0.35% of India's gross domestic product (GDP), has crashed the country's economy. The latest to join this bandwagon of criticism is an editorial in Mint. ("MGNREGA: A tale...
More »National rural jobs scheme loses steam in Karnataka, Rajasthan-Sanjeeb Mukherjee
-The Business Standard In 2009-10, number of days a household got employment in a year in rural areas of Rajasthan was about 38, which steadily dropped to 23 in 2012-13 Rajasthan and Karnataka, which used to be stand-out performers of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)'s flagship scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), of late, are showing signs of faltering in terms of execution, raising a question mark on...
More »Legislation alone cannot suffice to deal with problem of hunger -Biraj Patnaik
-The Hindustan Times The passage of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) made 2013 a landmark year for the right to food in India. It was a small but significant step in the battle against hunger. If the year was witness to the emergence of a political consensus, nationally, on the right to food, the next year will need to be characterised more by action and not just intent. The principal challenge in...
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