It is not a drought

As they say, drought is a disaster one can see coming. Deficit monsoon creates situations for a drought. But it is not deficit monsoon, rather …

Budget 2017 Analysis with Sunita Narain

Centre for Science and Environment and Down to Earth analysed the 2017 Budget by Arun Jaitley. The major takeaway is that there is very little …

Great farm pond chase

According to Union Budget 2017-18, Centre expects to see one million farm ponds being built by March 2017. If the government continues to chase …

Understanding Gandhi

GANDHI’S VISION AND VALUES — THE MORAL QUEST FOR CHANGE IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE·Vivek Pinto·Sage, New Delhi, 1998

UPA's development report card

A look at the progress of the Congress-led alliance's flagship programmes

RTI activists’ murders: Jairam Ramesh demands prompt action, compensation to families

Rural development minister’s letter to Nitish Kumar includes four suggestions for better implementation of social welfare schemes

MSP on crops has major impact on inflation: RBI

After government said that it will provide 1.5 times the MSP on cost of production of crops in the 2018-19 Union budget, RBI re-assessed the …

Why Union Budget 2022-23 falls short in addressing gaps to build disaster resilience

The budgetary allocations under relief on account of natural calamities and MGNREGA have been decreased; this will affect the country in building …

MGNREGA graft: Social audit finds irregularities worth Rs 54 lakh in Rajasthan

Corruption was unearthed in 2022 after the workers from Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan in Barmer reported the issue to the Rajasthan government

Centre has withheld Rs 7,500 crore in MGNREGA funds to West Bengal for a year, claims report

MGNREGA workers in Bengal not paid wages of Rs 2744 crore for a year, report by Libtech India found  

Jobs round the year: How MGNREGA made Balangir job-secure

The success of MGNREGA projects has made Odisha offer 300 days of guaranteed work a year to curb distress migration in this district

Security ring: How MGNREGA rejuvenated tanks of a Tikamgarh village

A network of 55 tanks that get filled up one after the other when it rains, has cured this village of droughts

Nutrition in backyard gardens: Odisha’s tribal women show the way

The vegetable women grow not only help them eat healthy, but also sell surplus produce and make a living of their own  

MGNREGA funds scam in Bihar could have been prevented

Initiative to make wage payment to workers transparent was stalled by officialdom

Saline solution: How MGNREGA helped Nagapattinam recover from the 2004 tsunami

Two villages in the Tamil Nadu district fought soil salinity through MGNREGA

More than half of world’s poor out of safety net coverage, says World Bank

Poverty is urbanising at a rapid pace, it says

Will the budget create a bang?

The 2015-16 Union budget will declare Modi government's development agenda

Heads without tails

Pro-poor schemes in plenty, but no end to tribal community struggles

Governance has virtually collapsed in tribal regions; most welfare and development schemes hardly reach even 10% of the targets

Bihar cancels 7.25 million unused job cards under MGNREGS

The move is aimed at stopping various malpractices related to seeking jobs under the scheme

Congress promises Rs 72,000 per year minimum income for poor

Calling it the Nyaya scheme, Rahul Gandhi said it will be an extension of UPA government’s flagship MGNREGS

Drought but why: Jharkhand staring at food insecurity

Primarily a rain dependant state, Jharkhand is witnessing deficient rainfall for the past few years now and even its relatively well-off farmers …

Formulate, implement national urban employment guarantee, workers tell Centre

The pandemic and subsequent national lockdown have exposed the long-existing vulnerabilities faced by India’s urban poor

Budget 2017-18 expectations: ensure food security, minimise rural distress

This year’s budget must focus on preventing farmer suicides, strengthening crop insurance scheme and guaranteeing rural employment

It is not a drought but a cumulative outcome of decades of policy sins

It is not deficit monsoon, rather the lack of policies and mechanisms to drought-proof susceptible areas that turn the situation into a crisis