-The New Indian Express NEW DELHI: The last full Budget of the NDA government is likely to give a major push to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by earmarking more funds for it. Sources said Budget 2018-19 will allocate around 20 per cent more for the rural jobs scheme compared to last year. The flagship scheme, started by Manmohan Singh’s UPA regime, is benefiting about 11 crore active...
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CBI books Jayanthi Natarajan, carries out searches -Devesh K Pandey
-The Hindu The case pertains to clearance given for diversion of forest land at Saranda Forest in Jharkhand’s Singhbhum District to a mining company in violation of Forest (Conservation) Act in 2012. The Central Bureau of Investigation on September 9 conducted searches at the Chennai premises of former Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan in connection with alleged irregularities in the approval to a proposal for leasing of 56 hectare forest land to...
More »A strange hybrid -Sujatha Rao
-The Indian Express Niti Aayog proposal for privatising public hospitals is ill-designed, driven by ideology more than welfare The corporate hospitals have been resting their gaze on public hospitals for long: Land, doctors and patients. Finally, in the Niti Aayog, they have found a sympathetic collaborator. As per media reports, the Aayog is all set to push states to privatise well functioning district hospitals in the Tier 2 and 3...
More »A field of her own -Tarini Mohan
-The Indian Express Advancing rights of women farmers can revolutionise the rural ecosystem The stereotypical image of an Indian farmer is a mustachioed man, clad in a white dhoti with farming tools in hand. The reality is the Indian agricultural landscape is fast being feminised. Already, women constitute close to 65 per cent of all agricultural workers. An even greater share, 74 per cent of the rural workforce, is female. Despite their...
More »Why are farmers up in arms? Here's a quick primer to a deepening crisis
-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Farmers protesting in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra demand better prices for their produce and loan waivers. But low prices and loans are not the real problems. These are mere symptoms of structural problems which cannot be solved by temporary measures such as a loan waiver. "While such turmoil appears to have immediate causes, their sources are rooted in problems that lie deeper," says Prakash Bakshi, a former...
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