-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy As one of the world’s largest rural connectivity endeavours, the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project has been the subject of immense policy interest for the potential it holds to deliver high speed broadband internet to rural India. The building of infrastructure on a scale of this kind was acknowledged as an audacious move owing to the nature of transformation that this could...
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Truth about PM's 'Housing for All' scheme: it is far off target
-Down to Earth Eighteen months and Rs 4,275.31 crores later, not even 0.1 per cent of the project could be completed "By the time the nation completes 75 years of its Independence (2022), every family will have a pucca house with water connection, toilet facilities, 24x7 electricity supply and access." It was May 2014 and the Modi-led government had just come to power. A year later, during the presentation of Annual...
More »Villagers barter wheat with groceries to beat currency blues in Rajasthan
-PTI BUNDI: Cash-starved farmers in Bundi villages - where ATM and bank branches are hard to find - have resorted to the ancient barter system, exchanging wheat and pulses with other commodities. For farmers in the villages it is literally a return to the old days. Wheat is currently being sold for Rs. 21 to 24 per kg but the locals in villages are forced to purchase commodities weighing equal to wheat thus...
More »Why it's barter or cash in this 'cashless' Ambala village -Vinod Kumar
-The Indian Express Three villages, with a combined population of about 5,000, have only one bank and no ATM. Ambala: Chamanlal, 28, a barber in Bara village, does not have a debit card and has never seen a point-of-sale (PoS) machine. He charges Rs 20 for a haircut and Rs 10 for a shave — all in cash. He is among the few in the village who has a smartphone, but has...
More »Less than 5% of tribals' forest rights "recognized" in India, no mechanism to ensure land ownership to women -Asavari Sharma and Gaurav Madan
-CounterView.net A new report, “Promise and Performance – Ten Years of the Forest Rights Act (FRA)”, released at a recent national convention in Delhi, has revealed that less than 5% of rights out of a total of over 200 million tribals and other traditional forest dwellers for about 34.6 million hectares (ha) in India has been so far recognized. The report, released as part of the Community Forest Rights Learning and Advocacy...
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