Bihar in reverse gear

State plans to bring down its minimum wage rate to that under MGNREGA

Is the rural economy driving India’s recovery?

Government spending has led to demand growth in rural areas; but what if it comes down?

In defence of capitalism

Diluting MGNREGA does not make market sense

Gujarat v UPA: models of non-governance?

Spoils of local bodies

Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh are about money and pelf

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 …

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  

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 

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  

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 …

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

NREGS expansion

Reading between poverty lines

Is the latest poverty estimate a true indicator of rural poor in India?  

Lost and found

Karnataka villages are reviving underground springs that were once their lifeline in summers

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  

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  

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 …

MGNREGA funds scam in Bihar could have been prevented

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

Blood, sweat and tears

For RTI activists of Bihar the cost of exposing corruption is life

Lean, mean scheme

Budget to start process of reforming Central rural schemes, 45 years after first demand