-The New Indian Express If a government survey report is to be believed, an agricultural household harvests a debt of Rs 3,000 every month, forget about making money to sustain itself. The agricultural household 70th round survey of National Sample Survey Office conducted during July 2012 and June 2013 has revealed that the total income of an agricultural household per month was just Rs 6,426. On the other hand, the total...

-Scroll.in Like Chhattisgarh earlier, now West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh are covering over 80% rural poor under the ration system, and have reduced grain pilferage. Is the public distribution system in India irreparably dysfunctional, or can it effectively provide nutrition and economic support to the poor? In the last three years since the National Food Security law was passed, a number of state governments have expanded the provision of subsidised foodgrain, and the...

-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...

-The Indian Express Swiss voted against the idea of a Universal Basic Income. But the debate continues We in India tend to associate Switzerland with fresh-faced girls in dirndls on a beautiful hillside, or with a cabal of silent bankers, but it is in fact a much more interesting country than those clichés might imply. For one, they decide on policy by referendums — if a hundred thousand Swiss sign up to...

-The Indian Express Between 2005 and 2012, structural changes drove poverty reduction — non-agricultural incomes rose the fastest, and the largest shifts from farm to salaried non-farm employment were seen among the poorest. The significant shift from farm work to non-farm sources of income accelerated the decline in poverty in India. Non-farm jobs pay more than agricultural labour, and incomes from both were propelled by a steep rise in wages for rural...