-The Hindu The Modi government is determined to dismantle the two-pronged welfare paradigm. It is now an established fact that one area where the Narendra Modi administration has acted with a sense of purpose, urgency and resolve is in slashing social expenditure. Be it education, health, agriculture, livelihood security, food security, panchayati raj institutions, drinking water or the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes sub-plan, central government funds earmarked for social protection have been cut. The...

-Down to Earth This decision is expected to address the delay in transfer of funds from the Centre to states A decision to transfer funds for India’s flagship employment guarantee scheme in real time will be taken soon. This is expected to end the procedural delay in fund transfer for the scheme to states, a factor known to be behind its poor implementation. It will enable states to get their share of...

-The Indian Express Modi government has damaged the rights-based legislative framework without spelling out what will replace it. No  one in the last two decades has come to power with greater euphoria than the Narendra Modi sarkar. It has taken less than a year for that euphoria to recede and change to disappointment. There are sufficient reasons for this change. The celebrations of the first year in office of  this government are in sharp...

-The Hindu ‘Largesse’ for non-existent entities from DAVP It was a casual enquiry, calling up publishers of some “newspapers” across the country. To the surprise of the officials who made the calls, they were found to be existing only on paper. In one instance, the dialled number connected to a laundry shop and in another, to a call centre. Yet, with a claimed circulation of 25,000, these non-existent publications had the status of...

-The Tribune Transformative approaches to agriculture are the need of the hour. For this, we have to impart climate resilience and rehabilitate economically stressed farming communities of agriculturally developed regions. Since more than two decades now, farmers have been committing suicides in India, a fact that reflects the harsh realities of farming. Most of these farmers were traditional family farmers, leading a lifestyle based on traditions and beliefs. The intensive commercial commodity-based...