Expect budget to be rural-centric, focus on delivery to beneficiaries

PM Modi has already launched a major water conservation campaign, put the focus of his second tenure on revival of the agrarian economy

Increase minimum wage by Rs 199, cut calorie intake by 300, suggests expert panel

Suggestions include different national minimum wages across different geographical regions in the country to suit local requirement

Political parties choose farm loan waiver for electoral gains, but at what cost?

Farmers have outstanding loan of Rs12.60 lakh crore, which translates to Rs 100,000 per cultivator

Poverty eradication - Why do we always fail?

The government plans to bring one crore households out of poverty by 2019. Such targets are announced each year, but why don’t they work?

A Mea Culpa budget

The budget is expected to have all the elements that will empower the government to say, ‘We are pro-poor’

Standing Committee urges Centre to revise MGNREGS wages, budget

In most of the concerns raised, the committee found replies from the Centre unsatisfactory

Amrit kaal for adivasis? Union Budget 2023-24 weakens safety nets for tribals

Schemes for food security, child welfare, employment guarantee for tribals saw shrinking of funds

COVID-19 lockdown meant no MGNREGA work for 39% job card holders

Over 2,000 households surveyed across four states; Massive expansion of work scheme needed to meet demand, finds study  

MGNREGA could also help India sequester carbon: Study

MGNREGA may have helped capture a total carbon of 102 million tonnes equivalent in 2017-18 through plantations and soil quality improvement works,…

Accountability is oxygen to civic life : How India could have managed COVID-19 better

Lessons from Right to Information and other welfare laws could have led to more transparent and smooth relief plans

Will MGNREGA help again? Rs 1,387 crore pending in wages

Migrant workers are returning to their home states again as COVID-19 pandemic lashes out brutally at several urban centres 

Spare me my noodles

As the India-China standoff becomes more tense and anti-Chinese sentiment builds up in India, will ‘Chinese food’ be banned  

COVID-19: Centre’s relief package an eyewash for NREGA workers

The Rs 1.7 lakh crore package by the Centre has nothing for the 13 million NREGA workers

Water-stressed in India: In Thanjavur, an outlier in need of conservation measures

The district ranked third in terms of water-conservation works under Jal Shakti Abhiyan  

Jharkhand’s success story of fruit plantation under MGNREGA

The state’s experience in horticulture orchards can serve as a model for the country

How to fight water scarcity this monsoon

Though the monsoon is behaving erratically, drought-prone districts are still water rich

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 …

Prosperity and Beyond

A quarter of a century ago, a jeep driver decided it was time to make a change. Ralegan Siddhi, made into a model village by Anna Hazare, faces …

On shaky ground

450,000 people in and around Jharia town of Jharkhand are threatened by the fire raging underground, but there is no political will to implement …

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

Just transition: Digital literacy can help youth dependant on coal sector move into other fields, finds IIT study

Digital media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube can also be used to educate the youth on just transition

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 …

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