-Down to Earth Gujarat trader makes affordable sanitary napkins and develops India's first machine to hygienically dispose them of Darshan Desai SHYAM SUNDER Bedekar is a successful textile dye and chemical trader in Vadodara, Gujarat. He is also the man credited with popularising the use of sanitary napkins among the poor women in Vadodara and neighbouring areas—a commendable feat when one considers that just six per cent of women in the country...
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Don’t dismantle, reform -Sonalde Desai
-The Indian Express There is evidence to suggest that with a few modifications, MGNREGA can dent poverty. There are few government programmes that excite as much passion as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). For advocates, it is a lifeline for the rural poor. For critics, it is a programme that distorts labour markets and does far more harm than good. In this partisan quicksand, it is hard to...
More »Nutrition, effective cash transfers: How to ensure social protection -Ashim Choudhury
-Hindustan Times Small and marginal farmers comprise 85% of the land holdings in India. Social protection is a survival tool for the rural poor, who have no easy access to wage labour. India recognised the need for social protection early on and introduced a slew of social protection programmes like the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) provides 100 days of assured labour wages...
More »Unleashing India’s Stree Shakti: Empowering economic contribution of Indian women -Bhairavi Jani
-DNA If we observe closely, the women entrepreneurs who run a variety of local small businesses are drivers of the local economy in many ways. Never ending stretches of backwaters and lush green coconut groves welcome you as you drive through the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the only state in India where the sex ratio is of 1084 females per 1000 males. At 92%, Kerala has one of...
More »Government plans vouchers to subsidise rent for urban poor -Shalini Nair
-The Indian Express The voucher scheme is supposed to act as an intervention for LIG and EWS segments who are forced to seek accommodation elsewhere in the face of inadequate social rental housing THE MINISTRY of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is considering introduction of subsidies, in the form of direct benefit transfer, that would be provided to economically weaker sections (EWS) and low income group (LIG) households towards their rent payments. The...
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