Any change in the Public Distribution System (PDS) needs to be undertaken with extreme caution since it is likely to affect the food security of 50 percent of India's population. This has been stated by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in a recent research brief. The note from NCAER is based on India Human Development Survey (2011-12) data. In the IHDS, nearly 42,000 households from 33 states and...
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Budget 2015: The need for an overhaul in Indian agriculture sector -Ajeet Kumar
-Zee News Agriculture is consistently losing its importance in India's economic growth. The agriculture sector contributes to just 15 percent of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but over 50 percent of the population is still dependent on it. The farm sector, including forestry and fishing, grew by 3.2 percent in the quarter ending September, as compared o 3.8 percent in previous quarter and 4.7 percent in 2013-14. For the entire financial...
More »Centre, activists lock horns over NREGA funding cut
-The Hindu Business Line Activists cry foul over ‘dilution' of the scheme New Delhi: On the ninth anniversary of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Government and civil society organisations locked horns over the scheme's "alleged" dilution. At a press meet, activists complained of a "systematic effort" on the Finance Ministry's part to "finish" the scheme step by step. They alleged that the Centre, citing that...
More »Executive's Environmental Dilemmas: Unpacking a Committee’s Report -Manju Menon and Kanchi Kohli
-Economic and Political Weekly The High-Level Committee set up by the Narendra Modi government to review the major laws relating to environment protection has, in its recommendations, worked towards two sets of objectives: one, to separate business from the messiness of governance, and, two, to redraw the line of demarcation between the judiciary and the executive. Manju Menon (manjumenon@namati.org) and Kanchi Kohli (kanchikohli@namati.org) are with the Centre for Policy Research - Namati...
More »Internet.org wants to connect India's offline millions -Shilpa Kannan
-BBC Most parents would love to get their teenagers away from computers. But not in one poor suburb on the outskirts of Delhi, where youngsters are sent to learn. Sharing a few laptops between them, they're being taught some basic online skills - how to search for information, how to send money to their families in the villages and how to book train tickets. None of the children have access to computers in school....
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