It seems that not only civil society activists, but even the poor and marginalized themselves are not happy with the Centre’s social welfare policies. Following the recent protest by 150 eminent persons regarding failure of the NDA Government to take-up urgent measures for employment generation and ensuring food, nutrition & drinking water security in the backdrop of severe drought in roughly 1/3rd of Indian districts (please click here to access),...

-TheWire.in Hundreds of NREGA workers from Manika in the Latehar district of Jharkhand have decided to send a letter, along with 5 rupees each, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. In a sarcastic attempt to highlight the government’s expenditure priorities and protest against the low NREGA wages even in times of drought, the workers have talked about how the government has raised the NREGA wages from 162 rupees to 167 rupees per...

-The Financial Express With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting no respite from heat wave conditions prevailing in parts of the country in next few days, the water level at key reservoirs continues to fall. With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting no respite from heat wave conditions prevailing in parts of the country in next few days, the water level at key reservoirs continues to fall. “Heat wave conditions (are) very likely...

-Livemint.com/ AP Hundreds of millions of people in at least 13 states are reeling from severe drought, a situation that is expected to worsen in the coming months Shahapur: Shantabai Babulkar’s day begins before dawn with a 5 kilometer trek across barren fields and dusty scrubland to fetch water from a distant well for her family. The two metal pots of muddy water that Babulkar, 58, balances on her head and a...

-The Indian Express In Maharashtra, where the sugar industry and politics are twined, drought is a manmade disaster Rains fall from the sky, but drought is “made” on the ground, at least in Maharashtra. The prevailing water crisis in the state is not about the unavailability of water resources. It’s all about criminal mismanagement of available resources. For the record: Yes, rains were deficient last year. In regions like Marathwada, which is facing...