A survey conducted across nine states by the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Allahabad University suggests that the much maligned system has revived, prodded by politics, good governance and the apex court. It also found the poor to be averse to cash transfers Kotri is a mid-sized village in Desuri block (Pali district, Rajasthan), about 15 kilometres away from the nearest large bus stand and market place. We walked to...

The only bright spot in the latest Census, 2011, was the data on literacy. It seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds. In fact, one would imagine that walking into the forests of Jharkhand, the first man you meet will know how to read and write fluently in Hindi or the local dialect. Or, Bihar which will receive a trophy from the President for achieving the highest growth in literacy...

In an attempt to bolster its aam aadmi image, the government is setting up the Aajeevika Development and Financial Corporation, a financial institution to ensure easily available funding for self-help groups under the National Rural Livelihood Mission. Problems in accessing credit for families below poverty line have been a major hurdle for the livelihood mission. The rural development ministry is in the process of inter-ministerial consultations on the proposed financial...

Each day, one thousand women die in childbirth and one million people become infected with sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including 7,000 cases of HIV. Yet these numbers are preventable, experts insist, when countries possess the resources and willpower to address and deal with them. Dignitaries and high-level officials gathered this week to discuss reproductive health commodity security (RHCS), or, simply put, ensuring that people have access to essentials of reproductive health...

A report from a sample survey of the functioning of the public distribution system in 12 villages in two districts in Orissa, a state usually associated with a poor PDS. While there are errors in exclusion and inclusion of households covered, there has been a vast improvement in operation of the PDS; below the poverty line households seem to be receiving their entitlements. The households also express a strong preference...