-Livemint.com It should lay to rest the ongoing debate about this government’s attempt to radically restructure India’s welfare architecture There were no surprises—no helicopter drop of money into Jan-Dhan accounts, no move to dismantle ongoing welfare schemes in favour of a universal basic income (UBI). Far from being the populist, game-changing budget that many had expected, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley presented a sombre, status quo budget which, apart from some tinkering...
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Renewed focus on maternal and child health a welcome first step -Yamini Aiyar and Avani Kapur
-Livemint.com The demonetisation sop is a unique opportunity to evolve the maternal and child health agenda into a universal Maternity Benefits Programme in the budget In an unexpected twist, demonetisation has spurred Prime Minister Modi into championing the cause of maternal and child health (MCH) in India. On 31 December, pregnant women in India were the surprise beneficiaries of post demonetisation sops as the PM committed his government to fulfilling one of...
More »29% Swachh Bharat Toilets Exist Only On Paper, Another 36% Unusable, Survey Finds -Shivam Vij
-Huffington Post Accountability Initiative finds rural India lacking in awareness of Swachh Bharat schemes. A survey of 7,500 rural households has found that 29% of Swachh Bharat toilets exist only on paper and of those that have been built, 36% are unusable. The survey was conducted by Accountability Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research in December 2015, across 10 districts in five states. The states included Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya...
More »At The Margins -Lola Nayar
-Outlook Is the devolution of national funds to states really worth the praise? * Share of the states in the divisible pool of central taxes has risen from 32% to 42% for five years till 2019-20 * Rise in untied funds transferred is accompanied by cut in Central assistance for state plan spending * Limited ability of the poorer states to expand their fiscal space with own revenue collection * Funds for rural development...
More »Budget expectations for rural sector
Amidst uncertainty over India's performance in terms of agricultural production and livelihood security of rural population, the Union Budget of 2016-17 will be presented by Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley on 29 February. Given the extent of drought in more than 10 states of India during 2015-16, it is expected that the NDA Government will allocate more resources for rejuvenating the rural sector. Since the country has seen two years of...
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