Public employment created by non-NREGA public works may just be giving more bang for the buck than NREGA, around a fourth more going by the findings of the NSS survey on employment in 2007-08. In which case, the finance minister would do well to keep the spending for NREGA under check. According to the NSS 2007-08, a total of 477 million mandays of work were created under non-NREGA public works and...

With India growing faster than almost every other large economy, the government is right to address its long-run challenges. The push for investment in infrastructure is bearing fruit and the expansion of social programmes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and the Right to Education Act (RTE) is spreading the benefits of growth across the population. But just as improved infrastructure doesn’t eliminate all traffic jams, rapid growth...

The government has taken the first concrete step to start disbursing subsidies for things like kerosene, cooking gas and fertilisers to individuals, families and farmers by direct cash transfer. A task force under the leadership of Nandan Nilekani, who heads the Unique Identification Authority of India, has been given the target of getting a pilot going by the end of the year. The transfer system will piggyback on the solution...

Outcome of the Kolkata Group Workshop held on February 18 and 19, 2011 At the ninth Kolkata Group workshop, chaired by Professor Amartya Sen, 45 participants from different walks of life, including social scientists, policy makers and development experts, convened to assess the dimensions of social equity in India, especially as related to poverty, elementary education, and health. The participants assessed that the benefits of economic growth over the past two decades,...

The state government and private school administrations in the state are at loggerheads with the government reiterating its stand to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2010 strictly in Bihar. As many as 15 schools belonging to the Association of Heads of Christian Schools (AHCS) which includes Don Bosco Academy, St Karen's High Schools, St Xavier's School, Christ Church School, St Dominique Savio, Notre Dame Academy, St Joseph's Convent,...