-The Indian Express Here, the MGNREGA and ration card are the people's lifelines. Himmatnagar is on the border of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Large numbers of Chelliah Muslims settled in its urban areas after the 2002 riots. There are some uplifting stories about the indomitable human spirit in their rehabilitation. But my story is about a place to the northeast of Himmatnagar, as you cross Radhanpur into Rajasthan. This is jungle territory and...

-Down to Earth   Blames Centre for non-release of funds Bihar has very little money to pay people under the Central welfare scheme that guarantees 100 days of employment to the rural poor in a year.   Central government's reluctance to release funds under its Mahatma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is said to be the main reason for the crisis. Nitish Mishra, Bihar's rural development minister, told Down To Earth that the...

-The Hindu     Paddy cultivation is no longer lucrative in Kanyakumari district Kanyakumari: The fertile rice bowl of erstwhile Travancore, now part of Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district, is gripped by a serious economic and ecological crisis. The emerald green paddy fields, banana and coconut groves in the backdrop of the Western Ghats, and irrigated by hundreds of water bodies may soon fade into a neglected prized painting, if urgent measures are not taken, warn...

-The Hindu Why does Gujarat have indifferent social indicators, in spite of having enjoyed runaway economic growth and relatively high standards of governance? Gujarat's development achievements are moderate, largely predate Narendra Modi, and have as much to do with public action as with economic growth. As the nation heads for the polling booths in the numbing hot winds of April, objective facts and rational enquiry are taking a holiday and the public relations...

-Frontline     Significant part of economic migration is still the result of desperation rather than hard-headed economic calculation. This, in turn, affects the conditions under which workers migrate and their lives and work as well.   PERHAPS the most poignant moment in the film Peepli Live-even though the movie is really more about the media than about the socio-economic realities of India-is at the very end, when the hapless protagonist, now a former farmer...