-ThePrint.inThe idea that all public initiatives to improve well-being are failing or dispensable is evidently wrong.In recent years, a debate has raged in India on what is the level of poverty in the country and whether it has changed, either to reflect the arrival of a new India or the persistence of an old one. Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s government stopped producing official estimates of poverty when it abolished the...

For long, economists have argued among themselves whether income should be the only criterion for measuring poverty. After all, in real life a person can face multiple deprivations, say, in terms of Access to education, health and living standards, among others. The multidimensional poverty index (MPI), which offers a valuable complement to traditional income-based poverty measures, was first introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report (HDR). The MPI looks at...

-NDTV/ ANIAzhar Maqsusi extended the free food initiative to other places like Bengaluru, Raichur, Tandoor, and parts of Jharkhand and Assam. Hyderabad: Azhar Maqsusi, a social activist from Hyderabad, has made it his life's mission to reach out to the poor and provide them free food. He can be spotted feeding the underprivileged outside the city's Gandhi General Hospital and Dabeerpura area every day. He arranges food for around 400...

-The Hindu Constable Archana Jain caught the attention of her seniors after photos of her working at her desk with her six-month-old daughter sleeping on the table were widely shared on social media. Lucknow: For police personnel, there is no running away from stress. But if we add to that the pressure and responsibilities that come with motherhood, day-to-day routine becomes even more demanding. This was true for Archana Jain, a woman constable...

-Press Release by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha, dated 28 October, 2018 The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is meant to be demand-driven in the sense that work should be made available to anybody on demand for a maximum of 100 days per year per household. This implies that there cannot be arbitrary cap on the budgets. However, the programme has been made supply-driven and stifled due to -- (a) Insufficient...