-Down to Earth The focus of MGNREGA has, over time, shifted from employment creation to asset creation  The funds allocated in the Union budget 2021-22 for implementing schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) were exhausted within the first half of this financial year. The budgetary provision for 2021-22 was Rs 73,000 crore, of which Rs 79,810 crore has been spent. Many workers didn’t get paid; it may take...

-The New Indian Express More than eight decades after the Temple Entry Proclamation, the untouchables' cannot take the 18-step stairway to the temple or directly drop money in the offertory plate! SWARGA (Kasaragod): Shri Jatadhari 'Devasthanam' (abode of god) is nestled in the middle of arecanut plantations of Brahmins. There is no motorable road to reach the centuries-old place of worship and devotees have to walk around 200m along the perennial Badiyar...

-The Hindu Informal workers continue to bear the brunt of pandemic’s adverse effects, says SBI report Signalling a greater shift towards formalisation of the economy, the share of the large informal sector in overall economic activity dipped sharply in 2020-21 even as informal workers continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic’s adverse effects, the SBI said in a research report. Concluding that the share of the informal economy may have shrunk to...

-The Hindu Climate Equity Monitor underlines India’s demands for climate justice being at the heart of negotiations A day ahead of the commencement of the 26th United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) in Glasgow, Scotland, India has officially endorsed a website, made by Indian climate experts, that lists the historical carbon dioxide emissions of developed countries. The database aims to highlight the disparity between the emissions of developed and developing countries with countries...

-The Tribune Consolidation of non-dominant OBCs and Dalits the primary reason Prashant ‘PK’ KISHOR has upset his greatest supporters, India’s English-speaking liberals, by saying that the BJP is going to be the ‘centre of Indian polity’ for decades to come, and that one should not ‘ever get into the trap that people are getting angry and they will throw away Modi.’ This, to many anti-Modi voices, is the unkindest cut of all,...