-Down to Earth Jean Dreze on why he prefers a solidarity society, rather than a welfare state * Are you actually an advocate of the welfare state? Ideally, I would prefer to think in terms of a solidarity society rather than welfare state, for two reasons. First, private non-profit institutions can play a very useful role in the social sector. In many countries, some of the best schools and health centres are run...

-The Indian Express Demonetisation was part of a political imagination that is closer to a technocratic authoritarianism. Revolutions are often paradoxical things. In the minds of the revolutionary, they conjure up images of radical change. But reality is more recalcitrant. It makes a fool of the revolutionary, exacerbating those very things that the revolution seeks to change. Demonetisation has turned out to be no different. It was a populist measure, done in...

-TheWire.in Despite widespread violations of workers’ entitlements, the BJP government as well as the opposition have shown nothing but apathy. The BJP-led Jharkhand government has coined a new slogan, “Har haath ko kaam (Give every hand work)” to show its commitment on providing employment to people of the state. The slogan assumes special significance for Jharkhand, where the ratio of working age population migrating to other states was the highest in the...

-The Indian Express In zones of prosperity, agriculture faces crisis, jobs are few, social aspirations don’t match economic realities After Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, farmers from Rajasthan came out on the streets demanding loan waiver and implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report. Protesting against government policies and demanding their share in the country’s development, which they argue have been denied to them, the farmers have shown unity across caste and class lines....

-News18.com Nearly every section that constitutes the socio-Political Economy of Sikar district has turned up to lend support to the farmers' protest, be it students, anganwadi workers, the city bus union, the autorickshaw union, the small traders association or the pump set workers. Sikar: Something unusual is happening in Sikar. For the past 10 days, an agitation is being held at the farmer mandi of the district headquarters here. But what is...