-IndiaSpend.com Kamla Devi (not her real name), of advanced but uncertain age, lives in Lohari, a remote adivasi village located inside a wildlife sanctuary in Udaipur, Rajasthan. On a summer day in 2016, we approached her as she was chasing after a small herd of goats, to ask questions as part of a study on the relation between ageing, paid work and pensions. Our very first question–whether she was a beneficiary of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Activists and researchers today accused the Centre of systematically curtailing the 100-day rural job scheme by not releasing funds for the payment of beneficiaries, diluting norms to avoid giving compensation and cancelling cards of genuine job-seekers. They said payments to around 10 crore poor workers were getting delayed because of the lack of funds. The Union rural development ministry denied the charges. At a news conference, Nikhil Dey of the...

-Livemint.com Mint’s rural distress index is below its median value, but it conceals varying distress levels across states Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s announcement of farm loan waiver has given credence to similar demands from across the country. Those making these demands include political parties, protesting farmers and even the judiciary. An earlier Plainfacts column had pointed out how farm loan waivers can be counter-productive in the long run, a fact...

-HuffingtonPost.in Bhopal, Patna and Lucknow are in particularly bad shape. Some of India's major cities have worse rates of child malnutrition than rural India, an analysis of data from the National Family Health Survey shows. The data shows that over a quarter of children under the age of five are stunted (low height for age) in all of India's major state capitals, except in Kochi and Hyderabad. Bhopal has higher rates of child...

-Hindustan Times Ludhiana: Woman officer of Ludhiana rural Police (Jagraon) sub-inspector, Ravinder Kaur, has proved her mettle in war against drugs and drug peddlers. She has joined Ludhiana rural Police as additional SHO at police station Sidhwan Bet seven days ago and in a week she has cracked four gangs, involved in drug peddling. Her service to the department and society has been recognised by Ludhiana rural, senior superintendent of police (SSP),...