In the last few years in different parts of India the issue of land acquisition has become politically explosive. This isn’t surprising as land, one of the few assets possessed by large numbers of people, particularly in rural India, is rising disproportionately in potential value as commercial and industrial development picks up, as there is never a dearth of real estate magnates, land speculators, local mafia, their political patrons and...
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My data versus yours by MK Venu
It’s been often asked why our officialdom, with all the intellectual capital at its command, is unable to quantify the number of the really poor in India. Is this such a difficult thing to do? It is all the more baffling because in recent times, the debate on India’s poverty has only further confounded ordinary citizens. The Planning Commission had come up with an assumed deprivation ratio of 27.5 per...
More »Farmers' fury by TK Rajalakshmi
In three districts of Haryana, they have been agitating against the land acquisition policy of the State government. WHEN farmers of western Uttar Pradesh took to the streets protesting against the acquisition of their lands and demanding a just compensation package from the State government, the central leadership of the Congress was quick to cite the example of Haryana, where, according to United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the best policies...
More »Rural India goes urban by Rajesh Shukla
Most discussions on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) have focused on one of few things, the leakages in the implementation of the scheme, the inadequate number of jobs created, and some even talk of how NREGA has resulted in food inflation going up in various districts as well as increasing mechanisation due to unavailability of farm labour. It is, of course, true that you can’t have food inflation...
More »NREGS work mostly useless, must move to land husbandry: Panel by Sreelatha Menon
The Ministry of Rural Development is working on on several issues related to its most ambitious programme — the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Six sub committees set up by the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), which was formed under the NREG Act (NREGA – the law enacted to implement the NREGS programme), have raised questions on issues ranging from the utility of work done through NREGS to transparency,...
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