-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has raised wages under the rural job guarantee scheme - by the princely sum of one rupee a day in many states. The increase is the lowest in the 11-year history of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, and leaves its wage rates in 11 states stuck far below their minimum wages, set by the state governments. The eastern states are the worst hit. As...

-The Tribune Demonetisation didn’t overly impact the sector, but devitalisation is a concern THERE has been a lot of speculation about the extent of damage due to demonetisation on agriculture. Small farmers suffered most because cash in hand means a lot to them. They were unable to pay for inputs like fertilisers, seeds and farm labour and experienced low demand for their perishable produce. The latest data from government’s agricultural ministry however...

-The Indian Express They are the largest constituency in UP. Yet, all parties have overlooked their issues Next month, Uttar Pradesh (UP) will have a new popular government, hopefully with a clear mandate. If UP was a country, with a population reportedly of more than 214 million in 2015 (as per UN population projections), it would have been the fifth most populous country in the world after China, India, US and Indonesia....

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's government-funded health insurance schemes have increased patients' access to hospitalisation but failed to reduce their households' personal out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, the most comprehensive review of the schemes so far has found. The review by public health analysts has found increases ranging from 12 per cent to 244 per cent in hospital-based services across the country since the schemes were launched a decade ago. But there is no...

-The Indian Express Studying micro economies such as Bastar gives us the tools to highlight the rising inequality between the bourgeoise and proletariat. New Delhi: In Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar’s meticulously researched book, The Burning Forest: India’s War in Bastar, the plight of the adivasis struggling to make ends meet paints a striking picture of the growing wage disparity in the “Maoist state”. Wages paid to the adivasis are strictly controlled...