Although the focus of erstwhile UPA and the present NDA government has been to achieve higher economic growth by reaping the 'demographic dividend', a recent report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) informs us that a substantial chunk of the population underwent ageing during the last 60 years. The report entitled Elderly in India: Profile and Programmes 2016 from CSO (that comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) shows...

-Down to Earth Blog MGNREGA has been successful in Madhya Pradesh. Can the scheme also provide solutions for the current drought in the region? Sevanti Bai (45) lives alone in a village in Madhya Pradesh. Her husband died fifteen years ago, owing to health complications. With no land or children to depend on, she fends for herself by engaging in ‘rojgaar guarantee, as the locals call the scheme. MGNREGA, she says, has...

-Livemint.com The Global Consumption and Income Project suggests that official statistics might be understating the extent of poverty How much of India is poor? And by how much has that number reduced over the years? This is an old debate and the answers to these questions vary greatly depending on the choice of the survey method and the poverty line. According to official statistics , India’s poverty rate declined from 45% in...

Amidst the prevailing gloominess over agrarian crisis, a recently released report says that the growth rate of agricultural output in both India and China were the same during 2008-2013. The agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) of both these countries on an average grew at 3.3 percent per annum during that period. The latest available data from the 2016 Global Food Policy Report, however, indicates that the neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka...

-The Hindu Business Line It can, with the right approach and changed mind-sets. Tackling pollution’s a bigger issue   The odd-even formula is to be tried out once again in April, after its initial trial implementation in January this year. Repeated pilot testing assumes importance as an attempt to initiate behavioural change, making it acceptable before its permanent enforcement over time. If this is so, two obvious questions arise: How effective is the current...