Government Programmes

Featured Articles
October 22, 2022 Role of MGNREGA in the year after the 2020 lockdown: Survey findings from Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh
MGNREGA provided income support or security to vulnerable households during the pandemic (Image: UN Women)
July 7, 2022 PMAY needs policy commitment to rehabilitate slums in small and medium cities of Gujarat
Need for legal framework for land rights in small and medium cities of Gujarat under PMAY (Image: Homes in the City)
May 25, 2022 Enabling a culture of data sharing between programs and reuse of data
Participatory programs such as JJM require a large amount of village-level information on water (Image: Arpit Deomurar, FES)
March 15, 2022 World Resources Institute (WRI) India and the C40 Cities network develop Mumbai’s first-ever Climate Action Plan
The MCAP adopts a scientific evidence-based planning approach to mobilize resources and move from planning to implementation of strategic projects (Image: Deepak Gupta, Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 3.0)
February 28, 2022 Gujarat aims to achieve 100 per cent saturation in tap water connection for every household by October 2022 under the Jal Jeevan Mission
The SCALE project implemented in villages in semi arid regions enabled ultra-poor groups in project villages improve their access to drinking water (Image: European Union, Flickr Commons)
February 10, 2022 Budget for sanitation sees a decline
Jal Jeevan Mission has picked up pace after two years (Image: Anita Martinz, Wikimedia Commons,  CC-A-2.0 Generic)
Agriculture and informal sector labour need a budgetary push
What initiatives should the 2016-17 budget include for the agriculture sector? ActionAid India’s submission to the Ministry of Finance looks at these. Posted on 08 Feb, 2016 08:46 AM

Recent data from the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) as well as the Agriculture Census highlighted the plight of Indian farmers. Around 85 percent are small and marginal farmers with an average monthly income of only Rs. 4653, which is lesser than their monthly expenses. Debt rates are very high among farmers with an average loan of more than Rs.

A farmer in Jhansi, Bundelkhand
Echoes of Bhakra
Oustees of one of the highest gravity dams of the world fear yet another displacement--50 years after the first one. Posted on 01 Feb, 2016 04:28 PM

Bhakra dam was the first hydropower project of independent India. Though it brought electricity and water to vast areas, the people displaced in the Bilaspur area of Himachal Pradesh remain dissatisfied. Many of them were not adequately compensated, and began living and farming in the adjoining forests. They were allowed to stay put--unofficially--by the administration.

Bhakra dam (Source: Apar Singh Bataan, Wikimedia Commons)
Water and sanitation sector needs a budget push
Better regulation and transparency is needed in the WASH sector to ensure that India meets its Swachh Bharat Mission targets, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. Posted on 30 Jan, 2016 12:56 PM

While the WatSan sector has been prioritised in the country’s policy agenda through the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, last year’s budgetary outlay was way below desired levels.

Handwashing at a Karnataka school
Pumping up hopes the solar way
What will it take for the Haryana government to switch 7 lakh groundwater pumps to solar powered options so it can lower its energy footprint and contain losses in the energy sector? Posted on 28 Jan, 2016 03:29 PM

Haryana's agriculture sector uses seven lakh tubewells, most of which are connected to the grid as the state has a policy of providing highly subsidised electricity to farmers costing Rs. 6200 crore a year. As a result, groundwater exploitation is rampant.

Better incentives needs to be provided to farmers to use solar pumps for tubewells in Haryana
Government sets ambitious targets for MGNREGS
Policy matters this week Posted on 26 Jan, 2016 02:09 PM

Aiming for an outcome-oriented programme, Government sets ambitious targets for MGNREGS

Labourers building check dams under MGNREGS (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
UP Coca Cola plant in trouble again
News this week Posted on 26 Jan, 2016 02:03 PM

CPCB finds Coca Cola plant in Hapur pumping toxic water into a pond

Coca Cola bottling plant (Source: S. Subramanium via Hindu)
Centre speeds up its Clean Ganga Mission
Policy matters this week Posted on 19 Jan, 2016 11:36 AM

Centre to involve public, private firms for urban sewage treatment and Ganga clean up 

Ganga river at Gadmukteshwar (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
IMD to stop using the term 'drought'
News this week Posted on 12 Jan, 2016 09:55 AM

IMD to replace the term 'drought' with 'deficient year'

Affected by drought (Source: IWP Flickr Photo)
NITI Ayog allocates Rs 1000 crore for groundwater contaminated zones
Policy matters this week Posted on 11 Jan, 2016 09:48 PM

Government to install community water purification plants in water toxic zones

A hand pump in Madhya Pradesh (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Ken-Betwa river gets some respite
Statutory clearance not given for the much touted Ken-Betwa model link project of the Interlinking of Rivers programme due to extreme social and environmental concerns. Posted on 08 Jan, 2016 01:03 PM

In December 2015, more than forty years after it was conceived, the Government was set to launch India’s ambitious 30-link river interlinking project linking 37 rivers.

View of Betwa river (Source: Manual Menal, Wikimedia Commons)
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