Some of the districts hit by India’s biggest internal security threat seem to have done as well or better than the rest of the country in one key development-related aspect, according to the government. Unlike other welfare schemes that fail to take off in any significant way in these areas, the performance of the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 31 districts, around one-third of the total...
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A case of too little, too late or is there some cause for celebration? : The RTE Act 2009 by Dipa Sinha
India’s record in providing education to its children has been very poor. Low education levels have an impact on income, productivity, health status and standard of living. As per 2001 Census, the overall literacy rate of India is still only 65.4%, with many states having a literacy rate less than the national average. While the male literacy rate is around 76%, only about 54% females are literate1. What is important...
More »Self-employment scheme suffers from regional disparities by Ruhi Tewari
A decade-old scheme to organize the rural poor into self-help groups and impart training to them has brought hundreds of thousands above the poverty line, says the rural development ministry, which executes the programme. Some 4.5 million people living below the poverty line have been trained under the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, or SGSY, while 3.5 million self-help groups (SHGs) have been created since its launch in 1999. An evaluation of SGSY...
More »India booms but poor still hungry, malnourished
The government is spending billions of dollars on welfare schemes, and plans even more this year. But that is news to Poona, whose daughter may soon die from that stain on India's growth story -- malnutrition. Poona, who married at 14 and breaks quarry stones for a living, shielded her daughter's sunken face from a harsh summer sun with her blue sari. She does not know Urmila's weight, but the...
More »Hard to stomach by Biraj Patnaik
As the nation debates the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and its implications on food security for the country, it is pertinent to pause for a moment and ponder some of the structural reasons for the mismanagement of the food economy of the country. Forget the past or the future or even the present set of policies being pursued. The UPA-II is pushing the nation inexorably towards a regime of...
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