Young women are part of a campaign to bring much-needed social change and improve sanitation facilities If you don't have a toilet at home, you might not get a bride in India. In a silent revolution of sorts, Indian women across the country, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, have a single condition before they agree to a match – the groom must have a toilet in his home. The "No Toilet,...

As many as 806 farmers have committed suicide in the last two-and-a-half years in the State. Among the districts, Hassan has reported the highest number of suicides at 101, according to a written reply by Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti to the Legislative Assembly on Monday. Bidar stood second with 88 cases. However, there seems to be a decrease in the number of the farmers’ suicide cases in the last two years. Compared...

Cash transfers cannot and should not replace the public provision of essential goods and services, but rather supplement them. Cash transfers are the latest fad of the international development industry, as the preferred strategy for poverty reduction. And now Indian policymakers are busy catching up. The idea was mooted in the Government's Economic Survey for 2010-11, and the Finance Minister made an explicit announcement in his budget speech for replacing some...

Budget 2011-12 marks a sharp retreat of the government from the social and economic sectors. It has cut back expenditures in sectors that matter to common people, especially the poor. On the other hand, it has given huge concessions to the corporate sector in the form of tax cuts and exemptions. Let us take the overall fiscal stance of the budget. The underlying strategy is to reduce its fiscal deficit to...

Caught between public outcry and Congress reservations, the government on Tuesday indicated that it was willing to review the Budget proposal to levy a service charge on healthcare costs of individuals. But those opting for medical insurance might have to remain under the ambit of the levy. ''Whether the service tax will be on 25-bed hospitals or whether it will be on all tests is something that can be discussed,'' revenue...