-The Hindu Federalism and good governance need engagement between people and officials, as the MGNREGA programme shows It is 45 days and counting since lakhs of farmers have gathered in Delhi protesting against the farm laws. Leaving aside the merits and demerits of the laws, many are aggrieved about the process of promulgation of the laws as it lacked any consultation with those that the laws are purportedly meant to serve. Very often,...
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In rural India, over-reliance on digital technology has worsen financial exclusion -Rajendran Narayanan and Sakina Dhorajiwala
-The Indian Express A technological intervention must have a governance framework in which protection of rights must be fundamental and which provides more choices to the marginalised. Remember the early days of the internet, when it took several minutes to connect to the web through a dial-in modem? Or when you had to wait in line at an STD booth to make an outstation call? Since then, we have made massive strides...
More »Community action, with a focus on women’s well-being, can fight malnutrition -Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta
-The Indian Express Anganwadi workers, ASHAs, ANMs and anganwadi supervisors can work together with panchayat members to ensure that all children and mothers are covered with immunisation, antenatal care, maternity benefits and nutrition services On an MGNREGA Worksite in Kolar, Karnataka, a male worker came up to me and said that men ought to be paid more than women. I asked him why. “Adhu yaavaagalu hange,” he replied: That was how it...
More »Fix accountability for incorrect manual scavenging data: NHRC
-The Hindu “Many States make tall claims.., but these are far from truth” The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has recommended action against government officials responsible for incorrectly reporting the number of manual scavengers in the country, it said in a statement on Monday. At a regional workshop for government and civil society organised by the Commission on December 18 to discuss the challenges of eradicating manual scavenging, “it was strongly felt... that...
More »MGNREGA: rural welfare on crutches -Debmalya Nandy
-The Telegraph The inadequate sanctioning of schemes across gram panchayats hinders operations, thereby reducing employment opportunities The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act tracker released by the People’s Action for Employment Guarantee as well as a research report presented by LibTech India reveal why the rural job programme has not been able to cater to the needs of the poorest during this steep rural job crisis. Earlier, a survey by the Azim...
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