An investigation by the Union Ministry of Rural Development based on a report by The Indian Express has confirmed that the Gujarat government has been illegally diverting MNREGA funds for its own departmental works. Ironically, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had himself stated in New Delhi on Saturday that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme had become a ‘den of corruption’ and that he had asked the...

A woman, as everyone knows, usually gives birth to a baby after nine months of pregnancy, but in Bihar 298 women claim to have delivered two to five children in a span of 60 days - at least that's what records of incentives amount given to new mothers under a government scheme show. A woman gets around Rs.1,000 when she gives birth under the government's Janani Suraksha Yojana but a...

The public distribution system (PDS) has failed to deliver on its objectives in many parts of the country. It would then seem appropriate to dismantle the system immediately and replace it with food coupons or Cash transfers to the eligible households. But evidence on ground illustrate that PDS has functioned well for years in southern states such as Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with majority of the households purchasing...

Sujatha Sundaran, 25, sits on a rickety bench and points to a rubber nursery that was a helipad about a decade ago in Mundakkai colony in the heart of Kerala’s northern district of Kasargod. Local children used to watch with awe as the choppers flew overhead and sprayed the insecticide endosulfan on the Cashew groves of the Plantation Corp. of Kerala Ltd, a state government undertaking. She was eight when she...

Madhya Pradesh, Democratic Republic of Congo show near identical poverty level India ranks 63rd in the new poverty index, after Togo, before Haiti Quarter of the world lives on $1.25 a day or less: World Bank estimate New U.N. index builds up fuller picture of poor lives; Madhya Pradesh ‘comparable to Congo.' There are more poor people in eight states of India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a study reveals...