-The Indian Express An urban employment guarantee programme is an idea whose time has come. Temperatures are rapidly warming up in what promises to be a blistering summer of India’s electioneering. Amidst the belligerent grandstanding on national security and the communal messaging barely below the surface, Rahul Gandhi’s announcement of a minimum income guarantee scheme came as a relief, if only because it tried to steer the public discussions to the...

-The Economic Times A campaign called 'Bridge the Care Gap' has been lobbying political parties to commit to the implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act and the National Mental Health Policy On April 2, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and other senior Congress leaders unveiled the party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress website crashed with a huge spike in traffic. Most analyses of the manifesto focused on the usual themes...

-The Indian Express Congress manifesto should have promised better implementation of MGNREGA instead of another scheme In its previous ruling stint in New Delhi, the Congress’s flagship social welfare programme was MGNREGA, which provides 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. For its next shot at power, the grand old party is promising to implement a...

-PTI The Election Commission of India on Friday expressed “displeasure” over NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar’s remarks against the Congress’ proposed minimum income scheme ‘NYAY’ and said the comments violated the model code of conduct norms. In a communication sent to Mr. Kumar, the EC asked him to be cautious in future while making statements. The EC asserted that the public servants should not only be impartial in their conduct but also in...

-The Indian Express It is best read as a political promise for social security. There is more than one way of redeeming it Guaranteed minimum income is a powerful idea that has already made some headway in various countries. Some European countries, for instance, guarantee a minimum income to their citizens. This requires extensive data collection as well as an effective cadre of welfare officers and social workers tasked with enquiring...