-The Indian Express Government’s claim that structural changes to the economy are paying off, and that is being used to give back to the people, is problematic. The Interim Union Budget 2019 is no less than a full budget with changes in taxation and announcement of lucrative schemes for various sections of the population. The recent losses in three major assembly elections rang alarm bells for the ruling dispensation. With the...
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144% More Funds For Agriculture, But Not Enough To Quell Farm Unrest - Nilachala Acharya
-IndiaSpend/ CBGA Agriculture has got an unprecedented 144% rise in allocation in the interim budget announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government--from Rs 57,600 crore in the 2018-19 budget estimates to Rs 1,40,764 crore in the interim budget. This took the share of the agriculture ministry in the total union budget to 5.2%, a benchmark succeeding governments will be compelled to match for political reasons. For context, the share has been...
More »The solution is universal -Rajendran Narayanan & Debmalya Nandy
-The Hindu Strengthening the MGNREGA would be more prudent than a targeted cash transfer plan like PM-KISAN Rural distress has hit unprecedented levels. According to news reports, unemployment is the highest in 45 years. To allay some misgivings of the distress, one of the announcements in the Budget speech was that “vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land up to 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of...
More »Health study flags insurance holes -GS Mudur
-The Telegraph Hospitalisation cover does not protect families from catastrophic expenses A three-state study has found that India’s government-funded or private health insurance schemes that pay for hospitalisation have not adequately protected households from catastrophic health expenditures and rekindled the debate on how to achieve universal health care. The study that examined sample households in Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh found 28 per cent of insured households and 26 per cent of uninsured...
More »It's a great leap backward on the employment front in India's rural areas -Sayantan Bera
-Livemint.com * The Narendra Modi government launched a host of schemes, but most of them have had no visible impact * According to NSSO, joblessness among rural men in the 15-29 age group tripled to 17.4% in 2017-18, compared to that in 2011-12 Shiv Prasad has a plan—one that he feels can change his destiny. The daily wager from Uttar Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region has experienced crushing poverty, trying to provide for his 10-member...
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