-The Indian Express Families of some Punjab farmers who committed suicide get half the amount govt promised, many others yet to get any. Punjab: In March 2009, the Punjab government had cleared Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the families of every farmer who had committed suicide since 2000. This was also part of the ruling party's 2012 election manifesto. So far, however, the government has compensated only a section of them,...

-The Hindu     The UPA government's response to questions on Aadhaar's voluntariness continues to be marked by ‘intentional ambiguity.' Compulsion by stealth is used to camouflage the use of Aadhaar as a neo-liberal policy tool "This debate is ... about our specific disagreement on the meaning of that one word," i.e. "the Government now seek to persuade us that ‘voluntary' actually means ‘compulsory'." That was Nick Clegg in the United Kingdom's House of Commons...

-The Hindu ‘Fair price shops will do business from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for first the 10 days of the month' Koar (Karnataka): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that the ‘Padithara Khatri' scheme would be launched on Saturday to ensure proper supply of foodgrains to ration cardholders. Fair price shops should be kept open from the first to the 10th of every month from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and provide...

-Down to Earth G Nammalvar was one of a kind, a messiah of farmers who was revered as a saint-teacher by his followers. He was an agriculture scientist, a graduate of Annamalai University, who left a government job at the research station at Kovilpatti when he realised that he could do nothing for the resource-poor farmers who depend on rains to cultivate their parched land. Thus began an odyssey of half...

-The Indian Express     Policy design should worry less about public versus private, and more about choice and accountability. The most noteworthy aspect of the Aam Aadmi Party's manifesto is the explicit focus on service delivery. This is what its government will be evaluated on, and attention has shifted from the AAP's political success to how it will deliver on these promises. The ideas below reflect learnings from over a decade of research...