In April, India’s Planning Commission accepted recommendations put forth by the so-called Tendulkar Committee on a new poverty headcount for the country. Constituted by the Planning Commission under economist Suresh D Tendulkar, the committee, after four years and a new methodology, arrived at a new figure for the number of Indians living below the poverty line: 37.2 percent, ten points higher than the previous official figure. With the government’s subsequent...

The government has written to all states to ensure better sanitation facilities, including separate toilets and free napkins, to check the increasing dropout rate among girls once they reach puberty. In a letter to all state secretaries, the rural development ministry has asked state governments to scale up the School Sanitation and Health Hygiene Education (SSHHE) programme under the ministry’s total sanitation campaign. Written by J.S. Mathur, joint secretary, department of drinking...

To eliminate misuse and leakages from its flagship rural employment programme, India could introduce biometric-aided identity checks that can be verified remotely. The government’s initiative comes at a time when the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has been criticized for leakages. It is the government’s largest social sector spending programme with allocation for this fiscal pegged at Rs40,100 crore. The proposal, which has already been submitted to the government for...

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a Rural Development Ministry proposal to launch the National Rural Livelihood Mission that aims to reduce poverty in a time-bound manner through provision of diversified employment opportunities and skill development. The proposal for the big-ticket development mission was earlier approved by the Expenditure Finance Commi-ttee and was taken up by the Cabinet Committee on Eco-nomic Affairs for clearance in a meeting on Thursday even-ing....

That hospital births curb mother and child deaths is probably a no brainer. Convincing expectant mothers to get admitted to a hospital is only part of the problem in India’s rural healthcare system. The other challenge is abysmal infrastructure: There is just one hospital bed for every 10,000 Indians living in villages and one in 10 primary health centres in rural areas stumble along without doctors. The result is a human tragedy....