-Down to Earth The midday meal scheme for schoolchildren is increasingly getting politicised, as the upper class elite wants to impose its own religious/food beliefs on malnourished children Most countries in the world now have some programme that provides midday meals to schoolchildren. School meals have been widely hailed for their multiple benefits — they increase enrolment and attendance, particularly of children from vulnerable groups; contribute to reduce “classroom hunger” and improve...

-Newsclick.in In the flagship programme for setting up micro-enterprises (PMEGP), the estimates of employment are highly inflated. In response to a question put up by a group of MPs in Lok Sabha, Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwar said on December 17 that the Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) has “generated” 17.6 lakh jobs since 2014-15. He gave year-wise figures till November 30, 2018. These figures seem to be highly inflated and...

-Livemint.com The production of ‘mahua’ is finally entering the formal economy as new initiatives seek to upscale this indigenous drink, selling it across the country and even the globe It is a cloudy morning in Nangur village in Bastar district, Chattisgarh. It is a settlement of a little over 400 families, considered fairly large in these parts. We make a bumpy journey down a narrow, unpaved road intermittently shaded by sargi (sal)...

-TheWire.in Apart from subsuming all earlier Central and state schemes under the PMUY to boost numbers, a major proportion of scheme beneficiaries cannot afford to use gas despite getting a free connection. New Delhi: The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is one of the flagship schemes of the Narendra Modi government. Officially launched on May 1, 2016, the government regards it as one of its greatest success stories. The official claim is...

-PTI New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the MSP for crops will be at least 1.5 times the production cost so as to boost farmers’ incomes and the Centre is working with states to ensure that they get the benefit of the support prices. He also said many people are spreading rumours regarding the minimum support price (MSP) and creating a gloomy atmosphere. He said all input costs would...