-The Hindu Although the SECC’s objectives are not likely to be met, it is a big step towards providing accurate information on the well-being of the people. The release of data for rural households from the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) is only the latest step in India’s tortured history of trying to count its poor. The idea behind the SECC was technocratic. Commissioned by the United Progressive Alliance in 2011,...
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Half of rural India needs help -Basant Kumar Mohanty
-The Telegraph New Delhi: A new survey has shown that one in every two rural households is eligible for targeted government aid - a significant jump from two earlier estimates of those entitled to blanket benefits. The provisional socio-economic and caste census (SECC) data released by finance minister Arun Jaitley show that almost half the 17.91-crore households in rural India may be considered under various targeted welfare schemes, depending on their specific...
More »Food intake dynamics undergo changes: NSSO
Gujarat, which is hailed as a role model of growth and development, witnessed the lowest calorie intake per person per day in rural areas among the 17 major states of India during 2011-12. This has been revealed by the 68th round National Sample Survey report entitled Nutritional Intake in India 2011-12 (See chart 1). It can be inferred from the NSSO report that except Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, the daily...
More »In India, to be veg is to drink a lot of milk -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express From NSSO data comes a key feature of vegetarianism: states that consume more milk go slow on egg, fish, meat. Being vegetarian means having a diet loaded with dal, sabzi and phal, right? Wrong — when it comes to India, at least. Average household monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) on vegetables and fresh fruit is higher in fish- and beef-eating Kerala than in “vegetarian” Madhya Pradesh, whose Chief Minister...
More »Is the MGNREGA being set up for failure? -G Sampath & Rukmini S
-The Hindu The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employee Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) has generated more rural employment than any other government scheme or private initiative in the history of independent India. At the same time, it has also generated a great deal of controversy over its merits and demerits. It would be fair to say that the policy establishment in the country right now is not favourably disposed towards the MGNREGA, with the...
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