Opinion: Bornali Bhandari, Laxmi Joshi, Ajaya K Sahu and Shish Pal Bansal. Though the government has been running a Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation since 2014, a comprehensive database of farmers’ usage of farm machinery isn’t available. Ownership of power farm equipment in India is low. The recently released NCAER White Paper on ‘Making India a... Read More
Think-tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has projected a 5.1-5.5 per cent economic growth in 2014-15 for India. It also forecast a 6.1 per cent inflation based on wholesale prices in the current fiscal. The fiscal deficit is estimated at 4.5 per cent of GDP. "GDP growth rate for 2014-15 is projected at... Read More
For the last two weeks The Hindu has reported exclusively on an exciting new dataset the National Council for Applied Economic Research’s (NCAER) India Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2011-12. It’s an exciting dataset for three big reasons. One it’s a 42000 household-strong nationally representative survey with questions on both economic and social issues. Two... Read More
Families with an annual income of Rs 1.5 lakh are among the richest 20 per cent in the country data from the 2011-12 round of India Human Development Survey (IHDS) conducted by the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) shows. While incomes have grown considerably in the last seven years access to adequate public... Read More
Not all of the Indian middle class has access to all amenities yet. According to latest data from National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) only 40 per cent of those in the middle class comprising households with annual income above Rs. 88800 annually (an estimate suggested by NCAER researchers) have piped water connections and... Read More
Sonalde Desai Debasis Barik and Tushar Agarwal There is something ironic about politicians making announcements about the Right to Education or the Right to Health when the only thing they can ensure is allocation of funds. Their control over the usage of these funds is somewhat weak; the overall quality of services is even weaker;... Read More
Passage of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) has put the Public Distribution System (PDS) at the core of the national mission to feed the hungry. The PDS operated via “fair price” or ration shops will distribute up to 5 kg of rice at Rs. 3 per kg. wheat at Rs. 2 per kg or... Read More
Private school enrolment continues to rise but the already low levels of what children are learning in schools — both government and private — continue to fall new data shows. The Hindu is reporting exclusively on the findings of the 2011-12 round of India Human Development Survey (IHDS) a representative national sample of 42000 households carried... Read More
As part of India Human Development Survey the team covered 42000 households across the country Employment in agriculture has fallen sharply over the last seven years and a combination of farm-oriented and non-farm work is now the most common form of rural employment according to the findings of a nationwide representative sample survey conducted by... Read More
The Centre’s rural employment guarantee scheme can be substantially improved but it has undeniably helped Dalits Adivasis and women find work In an era of growing globalisation and rising inequality the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) stands out as a unique attempt to provide a social safety net via a massive public... Read More
Two in five Indian women didn’t choose their spouse and about one in two was married before the legal age of 18 according to a new study that paints a grim statistical picture of married women across the country. The National Council for Applied Economic Research a New Delhi-based think tank based their findings on interviews... Read More