-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Nine states seem to be holding back India's race to achieve full rural connectivity by 2019 with Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand topping the list, according to a central government assessment. The fear is that the ambitious scheme may have to be pushed beyond 2019, a politically significant date as the Modi government will be up for re-election then, despite recent improvements having taken daily...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Food matters in West Bengal -Jean Dreze & Souparna Maji
-The Indian Express PDS has improved in the state, but it’s still not up to the mark. Recent media reports suggest that the public distribution system (PDS) in West Bengal is now “doing enormously well” — as one headline put it. Some also claim that this has contributed to the victory of the Trinamool Congress in the latest assembly elections. Since we were involved in the survey cited in these reports, we...
More »Farm-loan waiver: A political masterstroke, but economically not prudent -Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Amit Agnihotri & Archis Mohan
-Business Standard The efficacy of farm debt waivers is ambiguous, but it has proved to be a potent potent weapon in the run-up to elections With elections round the corner in agrarian states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, his party’s Punjab chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal are trying to woo farmers of the two states with promises of farm...
More »Should prisoners be allowed to vote? Election Commission panel to seek answer -Ritika Chopra
-The Indian Express Under Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, individuals in lawful custody of the police and those serving a sentence of imprisonment after conviction cannot vote. The Election Commission (EC) has set up a seven-member committee to explore the possibility of lifting the ban on voting for prisoners. Under Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, individuals in lawful custody of the police...
More »Why Modi's Idea of Holding State, Parliamentary Elections Together May Not Work -Sudha Pai
-TheWire.in Finding a time period – keeping in mind exam schedules, agricultural cycles, festivals and public holidays – when elections can be held throughout the country may prove to be difficult. In a television interview recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed that holding elections simultaneously for the parliament and the state assemblies needs to be seriously considered. It would save the country from the permanent electoral cycle, party politics and polarising issues...
More »