'Social protection: a safety net for agricultural households'
In the run up to World Food Day on October 16, a Food and Agriculture Organization report focuses on the role of social protection in …
Panchayat Raj Half a cheer for democracy
There is a great push to make panchayats the fulcrum of rural development in India. But 16 years after the third tier of government was created, …
Scheme against jobs
Government is bent upon shrinking jobs for the poor by fundamentally changing the rural employment guarantee scheme against the advice of its …
Bank at your doorstep
Technology is helping public sector banks find customers in rural India. This is part of the Centre’s efforts to include villages in the …
Review finds ADB's policy doesn't hold water
Since 1998, adb has invested us $960 million in urban projects in India.
Dying for ration: No health aid for those without PDS cards
Ground report from Jharkhand villages shows many pending applications; Rejected applicants told quota for beneficiaries full
A natural secret
Policymakers don't need to go too far to eradicate poverty. The solution is as close as is a village well to a villager
Sarguja Losing battle
First district for tribal development Rampant deforestation Malnutrition and starvation deaths
Dungarpur A 'common' death
Once rich in forest and grazing land Now known as 20th century desert 68% population 'marginal and unemployed'
Phulbani Access to poverty
Sal forest worth: Rs 30,000 crore 85% population dependent on forest 65% people below poverty line
COVID-19 exposes fault lines in peri-urban areas
Lack of sanitation awareness prevails at a greater extent here; it is unclear how COVID-19-centric awareness campaigns will influence behavioral …
COVID-19 relief didn’t reach Jan Dhan a/cs of many women: Survey
At least 12,500 women Jan Dhan account holders across 13 states were surveyed; 16% reported their Jan Dhan accounts were either not operational, …
Who are the poor?
Identifying the poor and measuring the poverty is a contentious issue. Poverty line is not a sacred line. At best, it indicates how far the …
Poverty level will increase if health expenditure included
Planning Commission factors in less than one rupee a day as health expenditure in its affidavit to the apex court
'Let's put our cards on the table'
Veteran UN negotiator and head of the UNEP during the Rio summit, Mostafa Tolba, reasons why developing countries always suffer at the hands of …
Will India officially be poverty free in 2023?
National Statistical Office rolling out consumption expenditure sample survey; may note impact of central schemes adding to people’s income
Transition failure
With an eye on the 2014 general election, the UPA government is expanding its ambitious Direct Benefit Transfer programme that promises welfare …
A million opportunities lost
The ruling alliance’s flagship rural employment programme took unprecedented strides in creating water conservation structures across the …
Kind to Cash
A short stop motion that shows all the schemes that a human being (woman) can avil of in her lifetime.
‘Rethink economics of poverty’
Want poor families in north India to immunise their children? Offer the parents a small bag of lentils as an incentive and vaccination rates make …
How MGNREGA blew Rs 10,853 crore
The “little known” success story of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has unfolded as a disaster. …
‘Forests can’t survive without communities’
Nepal’s Forest Act of 1993, which allows communities to manage their forests, is admired and emulated by governments and movements across …
Impotent plan?
In August 2005, the Indian Parliament passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (nrega). The latest avatar of state-financed employment …
Bill will push PDS reform
Development economist JEAN DREZE, known for his work on issues such as hunger, famine, social and human development in India, child health and …
Hiware Bazar - A village with 54 millionaires
Hiware Bazar, a village in Maharashtra's drought-prone Ahmednagar district, was sliding into an abyss after degrading its environment. But in …