In this report, ESCAP explores the future of urbanization in Asia and the Pacific, focusing on the dynamic shifts in the region’s urban landscape. It highlights the region’s demographic transformations, including population ageing, and the persistent challenges of urban poverty and inequality. The analysis covers urban areas of all sizes, …
Ahead of the much-awaited Suresh Tendulkar committee report on poverty estimation, another committee appointed by the rural development ministry has come out with its report. The committee, headed by N.C. Saxena, says that the percentage of rural population below the poverty line (BPL) could be as high as 50 per …
RAJKUMARI KUNWAR, 70 years old, lay inert on her cot when a few people entered her small hut in Rajharakharmi village on July 23. They could count the ribs on her frail body. The pots and pans lying around were covered in dust. An aluminium glass lay toppled by her …
The Union Government has brought small and marginal farmers within the scope of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The necessary amendment to Schedule 1, para 1(iv) of the NREG Act has been effected by the government. Earlier only members of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, persons living below …
K. Balchand NEW DELHI: Calling for redoubled efforts for mitigating rural distress from the after-effects of drought, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that the prime task was to put purchasing power in the hands of the most-needy parts of the country
NOW it is drought which has assumed centrestage and not recession after half of India and 246 districts in ten states have been declared as drought stricken. Even though some places have been getting a lot of rain this month, causing floods, in general rains have been 29 per cent …
The Punjab government has roped in three state universities, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University (GND University), to conduct a survey on suicides by farmers and agricultural labourers in the state. In this regard chief secretary SC Aggarwal last week met representatives of the varsities, …
NEW DELHI: Aiming to make the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna more effective and boost the rural economy, the government has decided to restructure the scheme under a new nomenclature National Livelihood Mission. The Rural Development Department aims to provide self-employment under the scheme in the rural areas by bringing each …
The impact of genetically modified (GM) crops on the poor in developing countries is still the subject of controversy. While previous studies have examined direct productivity effects of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton and other GM crops, little is known about wider socioeconomic outcomes. Use a microeconomic modelling approach and comprehensive …
The Ministry of Rural Development in association with states/UTs conducts the BPL Census generally in the beginning of a Five Year Plan. The objective of the BPL Census is to identify the rural households living Below the Poverty Line who could be provided assistance under various programmes of the Ministry.
Life is grim for the tribals living in the reserve forest areas of the country, who face pressure from corrupt officials on one hand, and the environment lobby on the other.
Regardless of the new ban on the Maoists, as long as the Indian government remains better at talking about local-level welfare than doing anything about it, Naxalite rhetoric will continue to find fertile ground.
Uttar Pradesh has suffered from regional disparities and inequality and even six decades after independence, some of the regions of this state are very backward and the abode of the largest proportion of poor in the country. The challenges raised by intra-regional disparities and their compounding implications on living conditions …
Over the past few years, the West Bengal government and its law enforcement agencies used repression against the tribals in Lalgarh on the pretext of acting against the Maoists. This resulted in a genuine resistance movement since November 2008, which has reacted not only to state repression, but had also …
The political movement that came up from among the people of Lalgarh in November 2008 cried out for help and support from the civil and democratic society
T. Ramakrishnan Number of urban poor increased over time CHENNAI: The urban poor account for about 47 per cent of the total poor in the State. In absolute terms, the number of the urban poor is 69.13 lakh and of the rural poor 76.5 lakh. These figures pertain to 2004-2005. …
