Welfare

Welfare Spending in the Past Two Decades

The last two decades have seen little increase in welfare spending. But the NDA government has created an image of being focused on welfare by renaming schemes, appropriating older ones, and starving…
▶13-May-2024
Reetika Khera, Md. Asjad
Book
Symposium on 2022-23 Consumption Data

The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23

The 2022-23 NSO survey tells us that welfare, inequality and poverty have improved since 2011-12. Considering all other data and developments of recent years, it would appear that either the 2022-23…
▶03-Apr-2024
S Subramanian

Essential Work, Dispensable Workers

Workers on the frontline of community health schemes are by design in an ambivalent position: performing essential government work but recognised only as volunteers and kept out of the protection of…
▶02-Apr-2024
Shiva Singh

Systemic Gaps in India’s Social Protection Delivery Architecture

The pandemic could have been an opportunity for India's welfare measures to shine. But poorly designed interfaces, centralisation, and lack of accountability have made access difficult,…
▶10-Aug-2021
Vani Viswanathan, Aaditeshwar Seth
Review Article
Book
Book Review

The Other Indians of the First World War

The Allied victory in the First World War was won on the back of the labour of non-combatant ‘coolies’, whose deployment allowed for swift mobilisation across fronts. A new book narrates the story of…
▶09-Feb-2021
Vipul Dutta

Civil Society Organisations and Foreign Contributions

India’s draconian rules restricting foreign aid to civil society organisations exhibit a false sense of patriotism against foreign ‘conspiracies’. Reversing India’s historically open attitude towards…
▶08-Dec-2020
M. S. Sriram

Bearing Witness to the Covid-19 Lockdown

During the lockdown, migrant workers have produced ‘proofs’ to lay claim to promised aid, display grief and gratitude, and to archive violence they faced. These fragments from the worker-as-witness…
▶14-Oct-2020
Tarangini S, Nitya V

A Moment for Civilizational Introspection

The devastating effects of the pandemic upon the working poor should be a recognition of the collapse of our moral centre as a nation and as a people. The elite have exiled the poor from their…
▶30-Sep-2020
Harsh Mander

Idea of Social Stock Exchanges for India

Social enterprises have the potential to make a significant impact on India's society and economy, but they struggle to find sustained funding. Social stock exchanges can help bridge the funding…
▶22-Sep-2020
Varsha Aithala