By A Representative   A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit has highlighted chronic underspending in India’s public health sector, revealing that the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare failed to utilise ₹1,32,749 crore over a five-year period from 2019-20 to 2023-24. The findings were cited by the advocacy group Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India (JSA India) in a press statement, raising concerns over gaps between policy commitments and actual fiscal practices.

By Dr. Jayant Kumar*  The ninth Union Budget presented by Nirmala Sitharaman once again places its faith in growth through public investment, fiscal discipline and long-term capacity building. From the perspective of India’s poor and ultra-poor—particularly women, children, the landless and unskilled labour—the budget signals intent but falls short on urgency. Its central promise lies in future gains, while present vulnerabilities remain inadequately addressed.

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  The Ministry of Minority Affairs was established in 2006 during the tenure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, following the findings of the Sachar Committee, which documented that Muslims were among the most educationally and economically disadvantaged communities in India. The ministry was conceived as a corrective institutional response to deep structural inequalities faced by religious minorities, particularly Muslims, through focused policy interventions.

By A Representative   The All India Adivasi Rights Movement (AARM) has sharply criticised the Union Budget 2026-27, describing it as a “betrayal of India’s working people” and particularly of Scheduled Tribes, while continuing tax concessions and policy support for corporates.

By A Representative   On the 20th anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), workers’ organisations and unions across India held nationwide protests on February 2, 2026, warning that the landmark rights-based employment law is under threat following the introduction of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-GRAM G). 

By Vikas Meshram   In the history of Indian democracy, the Union government’s annual budget has always carried great significance. However, the 2026–27 budget raises several alarming concerns for rural India. In particular, the vague provisions of the VBG–Ram Ji scheme and major changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) have put the future of rural workers at risk. A deeper reading of the budget reveals that these changes are not merely administrative but are closely tied to political and economic priorities that will have far-reaching consequences for millions of rural households.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her ninth budget in the Indian Parliament. This budget is not merely a statement of expenditure, revenue, investment, and debt; it also reflects the political direction of the BJP-led Hindutva government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose vision has consistently emphasised the centralisation of power, minimal government intervention, and the corporatisation of the economy. In this model of planned capitalism, citizens are reduced to consumers, limited to those who can access the market.

By Nava Thakuria*  Is it possible for a quasi-judicial body like the Press Council of India (PCI) to survive for weeks without a chairperson? Should the world’s largest democracy set such an example, where a government-recognised autonomous media watchdog faces an existential crisis, with the 15th Council of the PCI still without a functioning head and 13 vacant seats? How can a press council continue to function without filling these 13 seats—meant to represent millions of media professionals—for more than a year, when the council’s term itself is limited to three years? Many such pertinent questions are now being raised by media professionals across the South Asian nation, as the regular three-year term (along with the permissible six-month extension) of the immediate past PCI chairperson, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, came to an end on 16 December 2025.

By Sudhansu R Das  For centuries, rural communities in India have recognised the economic, social, and cultural role of cattle in village life. Nearly 86 per cent of agricultural landholdings in the country are small, typically between one and two hectares, which allows farmers to integrate crop cultivation with cattle rearing. For many households, cows contribute to food and nutritional security and supplement family income. In addition to milk and dairy products, cattle dung and urine are widely used in agricultural practices such as manure preparation and soil conditioning.