Children of a remote north-east village Dibrual Dehingio Gaon are now studying in nearby English medium schools, 40 people of Padamunda village in Orissa are employed in transportation business in nearby town and habitants of flood-prone regions of Bihar are no longer starving during rainy seasons; thanks to construction of rural roads under country’s flagship programme Bharat Nirman. Better connectivity has pushed up agricultural income in rural India by 17.6%...

In a move expected to boost rural incomes but which will also impact retail prices, the government is set to raise minimum support price for the kharif season's rice crop from Rs 950 to Rs 1,050 a quintal while MSP for pulses is set to jump by between Rs 400-500. The rise in procurement price of pulses is seen as a significant bid to encourage cultivation of foodgrains that are...

Built into the economic dogma of growth first is the ingrained notion held by large segments of the nation's elite that the fabric of inequality is meant to remain unimpaired.  “The Challenge of Employment in India; An Informal Economy Perspective” sums up the findings of a National Commission set up in September 2004 to review the status of the unorganised/ínformal sector in India (Volume I Main Report and volume II...

PALANI: Tribals, living in Kattrazhaikaradu on declivity of lower Palni Hill of Balasamudram Town Panchayat, received benefits ranging from community certificate to land pattas and school admission to old age pension on Monday, thanks to quick action taken by the district administration. From now on, tribals and their wards need not toil in private farms as they have become land owners. Their children, once child labourers, can go to school. The...

The poor utilization of funds meant for rural development continues unabated in Orissa, especially in the backward districts of the state. The pointer to this fact is the gross under-utilization of the funds under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) in Kalahandi, one of the poorest districts in the state and the country. Out of the total available fund of Rs 56.6 crore for the district under MG-NREGA including the...