-The Indian Express Last financial year, of the additional Rs 15,000 crore that the MoRD sought in supplementary demands, the Finance Ministry cleared only Rs 9,000 crore. Despite the Centre’s claim that this year’s MGNREGA budget is the highest ever, almost 88 per cent of the funds available for the scheme have already been exhausted, just halfway through the financial year. As of next week, only Rs 6,000 crore of the Rs...
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Gorakhpur in Maharashtra, hospitals count infant deaths -Anuradha Mascarenhas
-The Indian Express The SNCU at Nashik civil hospital had attracted national attention after it reported the death of 55 newborn babies in August. The deaths, according to officials, were largely due to the high number of sick infants being admitted. Akola: On September 30, Sarla Velurkar realised she was in labour around midnight. Her home, in Dhamangaon village, is just a few minutes away from the rural hospital at Warwat-Bakal...
More »Six steps to job creation -Santosh Mehrotra
-The Hindu It is crucial to align policy across sectors and upgrade the country’s social infrastructure In India’s highly segmented labour market, one can still discern at least three demographic groups that are in urgent need of jobs: a growing number of better educated youth; uneducated agricultural workers who wish to leave agricultural distress behind; and young women, who too are better educated than ever before. India is indeed the fastest growing large economy...
More »The case for a rural stimulus -Himanshu
-Livemint.com It is clear that not only has the govt failed to do anything to revive the sagging rural demand, it has also refused to acknowledge the demand problem The fact that the economy is on a downward slide is no longer a matter of debate. It is neither a technical issue nor is it a transient blip which will go away on its own. However, matters are complicated as far as...
More »Face the decline -Himanshu
-The Indian Express To suggest that demonetisation improved rural wages on the basis of rise in income of some workers is misleading. It halted the recovery of the rural economy, which had begun after the 2016 monsoon. There is now a consensus that the economy has been slowing down and is headed for a hard landing. Many who matter have spoken out and as Yashwant Sinha points out (‘I need to speak...
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