-Pragativadi.com Bhubaneswar: In another significant step towards enhancing nutritional security, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra directed to promote and popularise jackfruit cultivation in Odisha. The Odisha Chief Secretary gave this direction while presiding over a high-level meeting on production of nutritious fruits held in virtual mode from Lok Seva Bhawan recently wherein Additional Chief Secretary Sanjeeb Chopra outlined the issues for discussion. Mahapatra said, “Jackfruit has high nutritional value, and the agro-climatic conditions...

-Leaflet.in/ Newsclick.in In light of the recent PIL filed before the Supreme Court demanding social security for gig/platform workers, it is critical to pay attention to how the recent labor codes, which are paraded as being progressive, are a mere lip service to social security, including for gig/platform workers, writes Namrata. In September last year, the Indian Federation of App Based Transport Workers [IFAT], a workers’ organisation consisting largely of gig transport...

-Newsclick.in Major budgetary allocation cuts in crucial schemes for women, children and vulnerable sections are indicative of the government’s lopsided priorities. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget has helped reinforce one home truth -- that India is divided into the salaried section and a vast underbelly, including the middle class who have been edged into poverty due to job losses suffered during the COVID pandemic. Coming out of the pandemic’s ‘third wave’, issues of...

-The Hindu The government seems to have prioritised meeting its fiscal deficit targets rather than using this opportunity to signal a path of employment-centred and inclusive growth India continues to rank poorly in various global indices that reflect the quality of life, human capital or human development in the country, such as the Human Development Index (rank 131 out of 189 countries) and the Global Hunger Index (rank 101 out of 116...

-TheWire.in With revenues of the government expanding significantly, this was an opportunity to present a more expansive budget. Unfortunately, the budget made a clear choice. Unlike last year, this year expectations from Budget 2022-23 with respect to the social sector – particularly with respect to schemes for nutrition – were low. While India relied heavily during the peak of the pandemic last year on its welfare architecture, trends on the release of funds...