-India Water Portal NREGA has emerged as a go-to scheme for water conservation in tribal areas leading to higher irrigation coverage and thus augmenting agricultural production Out of India’s total population of 1210.19 million, 104 million, i.e., 8.6% are tribal (Census, 2011), India has one of the highest diversity among the tribes in the world. Broadly tribal inhabit two distinct geographical areas – the Central Indian Tribal Belt and the North-East. About...

-The Hindu Business Line Why access to capital for MSME entrepreneurs has the potential to alter India’s social fabric India’s social fabric has undergone a series of transformations since Independence. After the liberalisation of the economy in the 1990s, the market opened up and employment opportunities grew, as did the spending power and standard of living of the average Indian. As financial access grew, so did social mobility. However, certain sections have lagged...

-PTI/ The Hindu Business Line The survey showed that food security could be at risk over the next three years A global recession is becoming increasingly likely due to stubbornly high inflation and real wages continuing to fall, the World Economic Forum said on Wednesday, citing a survey of chief economists from across the world. According to the WEF Chief Economists Outlook report, real wages are expected to continue falling across the world...

Contrary to the rising economic distress on the ground since the last few years, the official press release related to the fourth Annual Report on the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) at first glance seems to give a rosy picture about the employment situation in India.  Defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force, the unemployment rate in usual status (principal activity status + subsidiary economic activity status)...

-The Hindu Prisons are meant to facilitate rehabilitation but have become disempowering spaces with a mental health crisis The latest numbers are out. 9,180 prisoners with mental illness, 150 deaths by suicide, five prisoners with schizophrenia and epilepsy have died. While we know the numbers, we do not know what is being considered as a mental illness and whether these numbers are limited to persons who are in the mental health ward, or...