-Scroll.in Raghav Chandra, secretary of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, says displaced Adivasis should not only be compensated with money but land as well. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has been quite proactive in the last few months. It has prevailed upon the central government to withdraw orders that it thought “diluted” tribal rights, asked states to return “unfairly acquired tribal lands”, and reminded governors of their powers to...
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Kerala crisis arose due to destruction of ecologically-sensitive zones in Western Ghats -Viju B
-The Economic Times A geographical analysis of areas that suffered maximum damage this monsoon show that they were all classified as ecologically-sensitive zones (ESZs) under the Western Ghats Expert Ecology Panel report (WGEEP). The report was binned by both UDF and LDF governments, with both Idukki and Thamarassery bishops throwing their weight behind the political parties. The UDF government even passed a resolution in the assembly rejecting the report saying that it...
More »Who Is Accountable for Starvation Deaths?
-Economic and Political Weekly Denial of social security facilities is to blame in cases of alleged starvation deaths. The distressing news of three young girls dying of starvation in the heart of New Delhi last week raises a number of questions; not only on the failure of the state to protect its citizens from hunger 70 years after independence but also on the development model that India seems to be following. Mansi,...
More »Central and state governments sit over 24 lakh vacancies amid debate over job drought -Atul Thakur
-The Times of India In time of a raging debate over jobless growth, nearly 24 lakh posts are lying vacant with the central and state governments, data compiled from answers to various questions in Parliament show. A Rajya Sabha question answered on February 8 shows that the largest chunk is the over 10 lakh vacant positions for teachers in elementary (9 lakh) and secondary schools (1.1 lakh). Apart from the vacancies in the...
More »Evidence, policy, and politics -Jean Dreze
-Ideas for India Commenting on the concept of evidence-based policy, Jean Drèze argues that the relation between evidence and policy needs further thought. Based on his involvement with social policy in India, he believes that while economists can contribute to more informed policy discussions and public debates they ought to be cautious in offering advice on policy design. Once upon a time, ‘evidence’ was widely confused with randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The...
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