-Livemint.com In the last decade, the rural constituent has emerged an important factor for overall private final consumption, which forms more than half (55-60% range) of India’s demand side GDP An above-average monsoon is commonly expected to be a key demand driver in 2016-17. Gross domestic product (GDP) forecasts for the year incorporate a revival in rural consumption—a segment that suffered severe setback from two successive years of adverse rainfall. In...

-The Hindu Business Line The unique needs of those who work in cities even as they maintain homes in the village must be addressed by policymakers   Cities bring with them a sense of permanence. Many of them have been around for hundreds of years. Some of their more memorable institutions too tend to have long histories. It is no surprise, then, that most of urban policy takes aspects of a city to...

-Livemint.com Delays in payment and indifferent implementation, among other reasons, have blunted the programme’s effectiveness Procedural lapses have marred the implementation of the state-funded job guarantee programme aimed at alleviating rural distress in India, according to a review of the scheme in eight states by the rural development ministry. While delays in disbursal of funds for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have held up wage payments in Madhya...

-Business Standard A recent report suggests different ways to eliminate poverty and argues that accelerated growth is the most suitable medicine to reduce incidence of poverty Adding some and modifying some others is how the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is planning to go about its welfare programmes in the coming days. While the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) is likely to be extended to some private schools, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural...

-The Hindu Figuring out key parameters on which to measure a State’s performance provides a playbook of best practices for others to follow. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005 (MGNREGA) aims at “enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.” In the financial year...