-The Hindu Although the SECC’s objectives are not likely to be met, it is a big step towards providing accurate information on the well-being of the people. The release of data for rural households from the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) is only the latest step in India’s tortured history of trying to count its poor. The idea behind the SECC was technocratic. Commissioned by the United Progressive Alliance in 2011,...
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Cash demand from LIC baffles activist -Gautam Sarkar
-The Telegraph Bhagalpur: An unusual demand of Rs 2 lakh by an insurance company in lieu of providing information to one Right to Information (RTI) activist from Bhagalpur has left the crusader in the lurch. Ajit Kumar Singh, the RTI activist, had sought information from the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India about the details of implementation of a scheme, mainly aimed at the economically weaker sections and also about the works...
More »Varun Gauri, Senior Economist, Development Research Group at the World Bank, interviewed by Anjuli Bhargava
-Business Standard The World Bank's latest report "Mind, Society and Behaviour" calls for re-designing development policy based on a more realistic understanding of how human beings think and behave. The lead author of the report, Varun Gauri, was in New Delhi and spoke to Anjuli Bhargava on the thinking behind the report and what India can do with it. Edited excerpts: * Right from the cover design to the title, this report...
More »Disabilities Rights Bill: Activists worried over guardianship -Zubeda Hamid
-The Hindu The problem with guardianship in any form, is that it tends to be of a "blanket" form – the denial of all decision-making capabilities. A person with a psychosocial or developmental disability needs her guardian’s permission do a number of things that most people would consider routine: opening a bank account, getting married, managing property, entering into a contract, obtaining insurance, and even making a will. The reason? The enabling...
More »Fight against hunger too slow and uneven -Jomo Kwame Sundaram
-The Hindu The Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of chronically undernourished people in developing countries by 2015 is within reach. But progress must accelerate by the end of this year Almost 800 million people, or one in nine in the world, continue to suffer from hunger. The number of hungry people has declined globally by more than 167 million over the last decade, and by more than 200 million since...
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