-Business Standard 80% of surveyed districts did not show any change in migration New Delhi: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) has succeeded in creating livelihood assets but might not have a big impact in curbing migration -- one of its objective.   According to a survey conducted by Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), almost 78 per cent of households covered reported an increase in water table after building conservation...

-The Times of India About a quarter of all rural households and one in five urban families in India are forced into debt or sale of assets to meet hospitalization costs. This is true across income levels, revealed the National Health Profile 2017 published recently by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence. In rural India, about two-thirds - ranging from 65.6% in the poorest to 68% for the richest - depend on...

-Down to Earth In the last one decade, it has also helped increase groundwater table by virtue of implementing a range of water conservation measures. Once ridiculed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the flagship scheme for rural employment, Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), has been praised by his own government for helping in increasing rural household income. It has not only helped in increasing groundwater table in the...

-Down to Earth The local administration in Jharkhand is undermining the decentralised scheme, created to enhance livelihood, manage natural resources and improve basic infrastructure in rural areas Yojna Banao Abhiyan (YBA) was an outcome of two government programmes – Mission Antodaya (Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise (IPPE-II)) of the Ministry of Rural Development, and Gram Panchayat Development Planning of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. It gave an opportunity to newly elected gram panchayats...

-The Financial Express By setting the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022, the prime minister has clearly signalled a transition in agri-food policy from an excessive emphasis on foodgrain production towards improving welfare of the farming community. Given the continued excessive employment pressure, proliferation of small landholdings and growing agrarian crisis, this move is indeed an important change in the policy landscape. Doubling farmers’ income, however, requires identification of high-income...