-Business Standard 46% of rural, 23% of urban households purchased subsidised rice through public distribution system While a national list of the actual number of poor in India, based on the socio-economic CASTE survey, is expected to be released shortly, 38 per cent of rural and 16 per cent of urban households currently possess 'below poverty line' (BPL) cards, according to a new report from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation....
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Let’s not miss the wood -Arvind Khare
-The Hindu Narendra Modi has asked for land rights to be granted quickly to tribals, but for that to happen, the forest bureaucracy’s stranglehold on power must first go On June 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) to ensure that all States implement the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and grant land rights to tribals over the next two months. Mr. Modi’s announcement is welcome, but nevertheless...
More »Think tank report hints at diversion of cheap farm loans -Puja Mehra
-The Hindu Huge subsidy of 5 percentage points being leveraged. Pointing to a possible diversion of subsidised funds meant for farmers to non-agricultural uses, a research paper by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) has found that the crop loans extended in India are in fact close to exceeding the total expenditure on farm sector inputs. In 2012-13, the aggregate short-term credit — provided primarily to finance the purchase...
More »Abortion law plan stirs concern
-The Telegraph New Delhi: The health ministry's proposals to amend the abortion law have contradictory clauses that could force women to take unjustified decisions about their foetuses, a Mumbai gynaecologist said today, echoing concerns shared by other doctors. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 prohibits abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. But the ministry, in a draft document released last year, has proposed changes to make the duration of pregnancy...
More »‘Housing for all’ Shelter scheme to exclude rental plan -Shalini Nair
-The Indian Express As per the earlier proposal, the Centre was to provide for 75 per cent of the construction cost of rental units. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils the ‘Housing for All’ by 2022 on Thursday, rental housing, proposed with an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore, will now be missing from the NDA government’s flagship shelter mission. According to officials, the mission originally had provisions for creation of urban rental...
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