Although social activists and concerned economists demanded at least Rs. 1 lakh crore to be earmarked in favour of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Finance Minister in her budget speech on 1st February allocated only Rs.61,500 crore to it for the financial year 2020-21. As compared to the fund spent on MGNREGA in 2019-20 (i.e. revised estimate of Rs.71,001.81 crore), the amount set aside for the...
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Draft EIA notification institutionalises 1 season data for baseline -Ishan Kukreti
-Down to Earth Such data is needed for assessing impact of a project on the environment; experts fear Environment Impact Assessment studies will become misleading Data from only one season can be used to create a baseline for projects under the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 unveiled by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) March 12. Baseline data is needed in EIA reports that predict the impact a...
More »EIA Legitimised Environmental Destruction. Now, Govt ‘Renovates’ it for the Worst. -Manju Menon and Kanchi Kohli
-TheWire.in The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), a legal process that effectively grants projects like mines, dams and industries access to land, water, forests and other environmental resources has been used in India since 1994. On March 12, 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, the environment ministry put out a draft proposal to amend the EIA norms. The last date for public comments is June 30, 2020. The EIA was designed within...
More »Ensuring food security in times of Covid-19 -Amita Bhaduri
-IndiaWaterPortal.org A study conducted in 47 districts indicates that over half of the surveyed households are eating less during lockdown. The study, ‘Covid-19 induced lockdown - How is hinterland coping’, based on a large survey undertaken by a consortium of civil society organisations undertook a rapid assessment of the impact of series of lockdowns on rural poor households. Of the many coping mechanisms, the most prominent was that over 50 percent of...
More »COVID-19 lockdown has impacted rural livelihoods severely, shows recent report by a group of NGOs
-Press release by VikasAnvesh Foundation, Sambodhi, Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), BAIF Development Research Foundation (BAIF), Action for Social Advancement (ASA), SATHI-UP, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), Grameen Sahara and Transforming Rural India Foundation (TRIF), dated 13th May, 2020 One of the largest surveys to assess the impact of COVID 19 and the lockdowns on the rural poor was recently undertaken by leading Indian NGOs. The collaborating NGOs have footprints...
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