-The Indian Express Budget needs to ramp up spending on health and education. Pandemic has enhanced inequalities, shown up absence of safety nets. India is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, and social sector development is important in reaching them. Progress in this sector has intrinsic (for its own sake) and instrumental (for higher growth) value. It is needed even to build a $5 trillion economy faster. Inequalities...

-Newsclick.in Timidity vis-à-vis international finance capital, callousness toward people, and cynicism in manipulating the electorate and legislators, have made the Modi government one of the most ultra-Right governments in the world. The Narendra Modi government must be the most timid in the world vis-à-vis international finance capital. By the same token, it must be the most callous in the world vis-à-vis the working people of the country. The one is the flip...

-Newsclick.in The farmers’ unions also rejected the government’s proposal to take the matter to the Supreme Court saying that “this is a political matter and it will be resolved politically”. New Delhi: “We will either die or win. We will return home only when you withdraw the (three) laws,” farmer leaders told the government in clear terms on Friday afternoon (January 8) during eighth round of talks held at Vigyan Bhawan for...

-Scroll.in Greater public employment ensures better deliver of public services to citizens. This is an excerpt from the sixth edition of the India Exclusion Report, a collaborative effort involving institutions and individuals working with a shared notion of social and economic equity, justice and rights. The report seeks to inform public opinion around exclusion and the role of the state and to influence policy-making towards creating a more INClusive, equitable and just...

-Livemint.com Under the current INCome tax laws, if an employer is contributing towards the employee's NPS account, a deduction up to a certain percentage of salary qualifies for INCome tax deduction In the Budget 2021, tax experts expect the government to fix some anomalies in the NPS with regard to INCome tax benefits. They say that this will help in INCreasing the attractiveness of the National Pension Scheme. "For contribution towards Tier I...