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 …
Unique identity crisis
Biometric-based unique identity or Aadhaar is leading to huge problems for people working for the rural employment guarantee scheme and for …
Unravelling the food mess
Reaching food to people who need it the most has remained one of the most stubborn problems in India. The public distribution system (PDS) is in …
Universal health scare
The country’s planners are debating how to provide healthcare to all. In a drastic shift from the 65-year-old public health system, the …
Lives of others
Wildlife is more of an academic concern except when the charismatic tiger is wiped out from a protected forest or our favourite fish vanishes …
Kind to cash
The government has a plan to reach welfare to the poor without wasting money. It wants to put hard cash in their hands instead of spending on …
Brief history of a line
The official definition of poverty keeps changing. A look at how the concept evolved Illustrations: Sorit
The deprived lot
Andhra Pradesh fails to allocate funds stipulated for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, says Cabinet panel
Why the data block?
India does not know how many people are poor or who they are; no consumer expenditure survey has been done in the last decade. We also do not …
Social sector spending by UPA regime
The UPA government in its 10 years in power increased spending in social welfare sectors but not on agriculture, the backbone of rural economy
Water may shift from State to Concurrent List
Panel to make the suggestion before the Cabinet in June
Diesel prices: don’t miss the point
Fuel price reform is inevitable and necessary, but clean fuel and public transport agenda for health protection must not be derailed
Institutional monitoring of PPP projects made mandatory
Agencies, ministries implementing such projects will need to set up monitoring units to ensure private concessionaires follow Planning Commission …
NITI Aayog begins business without action plan
Will the Aayog's vision be any different than the top-down approach of its predecessor, the Planning Commission?
The poverty quibble
Government claims a huge drop in poverty numbers but critical indicators—health, malnutrition and wages—continue to be grim. So how …
India to bid adieu to Five Year Plans
The country will still have Plan documents but they would not adhere to a five year time period
Handloom threatened
Textile ministry proposes change in definition of handloom. Weavers fear it can ruin the tradition
Where SAIL's profits come from
State-owned steel giant’s profits are increasingly from raw material subsidies, not real economic value addition
Freeing coal
As domestic coal production dips, plan panel proposes to allow captive coal power companies to trade coal
Figure it out yourself
A striking fact about water in India is the lack of reliable data about all its aspects: total potential, available supply and demand
Open defecation linked to stunting in Indian children
Research finds 10 per cent increase in open defecation associated with a 0.7 per cent increase in stunting in 112 districts
Plans for Andhra's scheduled castes, tribes remain on paper
No vision, no planning, no adequate allocation and utilisation of funds, says Cabinet panel report still under wraps
A new planning commission or an advisory body?
Indications are that the National Development Reforms Commission that will replace the Planning Commission will not have financial allocation powers
Public Deprived System
The country’s 76 million poor have been denied the right to claim subsidised foodgrain under public distribution system
Niti Aayog’s new strategy: A call for growth or acceptance of failure
Celebrating India's 75th year of Independence is a matter of pride, but achieving a "New India" needs more than a textual articulation