Taking ahead its fight against corruption in schemes under MGNREGA, the Aruna Roy led Suchna Evum Rozgar Ka Adhikar Abhiyanhas begun work for bringing the glare of the Supreme Court and the Centre on cases of misappropriation in the state. The Abhiyan's move comes after alleged complacency by the state in handling these cases. And while the Abhiyan would be taking up the numerous cases where sarpanches have been found...

Cash transfers are now suggested by many as a silver bullet for addressing the problems that plague India’s anti-poverty programmes. This article argues instead for evidence-based policy and informed public debate to clarify the place, prospects and problems of cash transfers in India. By drawing on key empirical findings from academic and grey literature across the world an attempt is made to draw attention to three aspects of cash transfers...

The revised blueprint for land acquisition envisages government retaining its facilitator role Contentious Issues     * Protests are often against land acquisition per se, regardless of compensation     * Most protests are against private builders acquiring land, changing land use. New norms don’t tackle this.     * Poor government track record in R&R does not inspire much confidence; merged bills won’t work for rehabilitation after natural calamities, etc     * Can the government, which...

The steadily rising rate of economic growth in India has recently been around 8 percent per year (it is expected to be 9 percent this year), and there is much speculation about whether and when India may catch up with and surpass China’s over 10 percent growth rate. Despite the evident excitement that this subject seems to cause in India and abroad, it is surely rather silly to be obsessed...

How much poor is poor enough? If you ask this question to the Planning Commission of India, you might be highly disappointed at the response. Many of India 's poor die out of hunger and because they don't have acceptable housing. Some of India 's poor even live in makeshift homes on train station platforms, an example of the 78 million Indians who lack proper housing facilities. Still, according to...