A common criticism of recent budgets is that their focus has been on capital investment, to the relative neglect of the social sectors. Despite government claims of improvement in outcomes from various programmes, India’s rate of progress on the UN”s human development index has slowed down in the second decade of the century, compared to the previous two decades. The country continues to be ranked in the “medium” category for human development. Crossing the threshold into the “high” category (which Vietnam has already done) will take the rest of the decade, at the present rate of progress, says T N Ninan. Read it here.
In other views:
T C A Srinivasa Raghavan argues that former Chief Economic Advisors would do well to be less political. Read it here
Devangshu Datta explains why policy-makers need an understanding of mathematical modelling and historical patterns to understand what works when it comes to protecting large populations during pandemics. Read it here
The Eye Culture column examines Sania Mirza’s legacy. Read it here
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Actor Naseeruddin Shah
