-The Hindu The National Food Security Act is finally making headway in the poorest States. Amplified by reforms in the Public Distribution System, a modicum of nutritional support and economic security to all vulnerable households is now a real possibility. Dhobargram is a small Santhal village in Bankura district of West Bengal, with 100 households or so. Most of them are poor, or even very poor, by any plausible standard. There are...
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Give highest priority to rural job guarantee scheme in Budget, eminent citizens tell Jaitley
-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: Ahead of the Budget, eminent citizens across the country have written an open letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley requesting him to accord “highest priority” to the rural job guarantee scheme, MGNREGA, and allocate additional ₹5,000 crore to the Ministry of Rural Development. “Subsequent Budget estimations and allocations to the programme must be brought in line with inflation; be measured and maintained as a percentage of...
More »Man made starvation: UP’s failure to implement the National Food Security Act intensifies survival crisis in drought-affected areas -Jean Drèze
-The Times of India Recent reports from Bundelkhand, or rather from the side of Bundelkhand that lies in Uttar Pradesh, are most alarming. A rapid survey conducted by Swaraj Abhiyan, under the leadership of Yogendra Yadav, found evidence of famine-like conditions developing in the area. To illustrate, 38% of the sample villages reported at least one death due to starvation or malnutrition in the preceding eight months. Among poor families, barely half...
More »'Grass, Weeds Traditional Diet': How UP Government Covered Up NDTV Report On Hunger -Manas Roshan & Sreenivasan Jain
-NDTV Bundelkhand (Uttar Pradesh): 24 hours after NDTV aired a report on how villagers in Uttar Pradesh's drought-hit Lalitpur district were consuming rotis made of grass and sabzi of weeds, they were paid a visit by local officials. It was the first time that the people of Ladwari village - where NDTV filmed its report - came face to face with the Tehsildar and Block Development Officer. But according to Bhairon Prasad and...
More »Nearly half of India’s districts drought-hit as crisis accelerates -Samar Halarnkar
-Hindustan Times India, the father of the nation famously said, lives in its villages, or, as many call it, Bharat. There is no doubt that a great shift is underway: As 600 million move out of rural areas over the next 35 years, India will need about 500 new cities. But unless Bharat offers a fraction of the hope that ushered in Narendra Modi’s era, the ongoing urban transformation of India...
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