-The Hindu The study calls for raising it to 1.6% to 2.2% of GDP The government expenditure in India on early childhood education (ECE) for children between the age of three years and six years is a mere 0.1% of the GDP, and the average spend per child of ₹8,297 per annum is at least a fourth of desired levels, according to a new study. The research conducted jointly by the Centre for...

-Hindustan Times Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday launched the ‘Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Scheme’ to provide 100 days of employment in a year to families residing in urban areas. Launching the programme at a state-level event in Ambedkar Bhawan, Gehlot termed it a “historic initiative”. He added that the new scheme was mirrored along the lines of MGNREGA, which was started during the UPA government’s tenure for employment in rural areas...

-Down to Earth The scheme has an earmarked three-year budget of Rs 9,046.17 crore from 2017-18, when it was launched Less than half the funds set aside for the POSHAN Abhiyaan have been utilised by India’s states, according to the fourth progress report released by the NITI Aayog September 1, 2022. States and Union territories (UTs) with poor distribution of mobile phones and growth monitoring devices emerged as those with low fund utilisation....

-Down to Earth Ministry believes that the Chhattisgarh government cannot transfer these lands for any purpose without the prior permission of the Government of India A news report published in the Indian Express daily August 25, 2022 spurred a debate on the definition of ‘forest land’, its contentious history and many of the associated facts related to such lands. Ignored completely by the colonial administration and largely unresolved even after independence, many of...

-The Hindu Business Line The Centre should pay attention to fertiliser subsidy which is overshooting estimates by unacceptably large margins The economic crisis in India’s South Asian neighbours has turned the spotlight on fiscal profligacy leading economies on the path to ruin. While this has sparked debate on our States doling out freebies and subsidies, the fact is that the Centre too has some soul-searching to do on this front. Even as...