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Yamini Aiyar

Mint Correspondent

ARTICLES BY YAMINI AIYAR

Illustration: Jayachandran

A substantive welfare state remains an illusion

9 min read . 15 Aug 2022

For all the lip service paid to the rural sector in his speech, the budget for the ministry of rural development got a mere 4% increase in allocation. Photo: Mint

Union Budget 2018 unlikely to improve ‘ease of living’

4 min read . 02 Feb 2018

At present, most rural development schemes are implemented through multiple parallel bodies with different financing and planning mechanisms which make responding to local needs impossible. Photo: HT

A status quo budget for the social sector

4 min read . 02 Feb 2017

The SSA plan and approval process must be aligned to the school year so money can move fast and activities can begin at the start of the school year. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

Efforts to improve learning must go back to basics

5 min read . 26 Jan 2017

For the moment, the assumption seems to be that top-down targets, slick advertising with Bollywood stars and helicoptering in teams of volunteers can substitute for building local institutional capacity and community engagement. Photo: Aniruddha Chowdhury/Mint

The many lessons from Swachh Bharat

5 min read . 25 Jan 2017

Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Renewed focus on maternal and child health a welcome first step

5 min read . 25 Jan 2017

For a sector that is widely acknowledged to be seriously underfunded, states with the poorest health indicators also have the greatest difficulty in spending their meagre resources. Photo: Mint

Competing for better health?

5 min read . 24 Jan 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: PTI

Maximum government, minimum governance

5 min read . 23 May 2016

Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Budget 2016 and the social sector

4 min read . 01 Mar 2016

The reality of the Modi government’s failure to plan, articulate and finance a coherent social policy agenda is far more complex than a straightforward desire to shut down India’s welfare state. Photo: PIB

Policy goes missing amid slogans

5 min read . 25 May 2015

Photo: Hindustan Times

Unpacking cooperative federalism and social policy

5 min read . 01 Mar 2015

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participating in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The NDA govt committed last year to spend Rs1.34 trillion to build more than 110 million toilets all over India by 2019. The current budgetary allocation is Rs4,260 crore. Photo: Mint

Accounting for toilets, but no accountability for sanitation

5 min read . 28 Feb 2015

Decentralization to the state is only the first step toward creating an outcome-focused delivery system for education. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint

Reforms needed in education

4 min read . 25 Feb 2015

local governments have remained marginal players in India’s fiscal system. Photo: HT

Whither decentralization?

5 min read . 25 Feb 2015

A week ahead of the Union Budget 2015, the question of allocations and potential budget cuts is already making headlines. Photo: AFP

Pull, not push, to open up spending

5 min read . 23 Feb 2015

When it came to prioritization, finance minister Arun Jaitley chose to ignore the most critical issue that India’s education policy faces today—that of improving learning outcomes. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint

Budget 2014: Rs100 crores worth of missed opportunities for the social sector

4 min read . 10 Jul 2014

Data from the urban development ministry shows that a mere 37% of sanctioned infrastructure projects and 52% of basic urban service-related projects had been completed between 2005 and March 2014. Photo: Indranil Bhoumik/Mint

JNNURM: Cooperative federalism lessons

4 min read . 08 Jul 2014

One simple step to bring officials inside the classroom is to involve them in measuring learning and tracking progress.

India’s classroom challenge

4 min read . 04 Jul 2014

The Research Institute for Compassionate Economics recently surveyed over 3,200 rural households across Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The survey found that 45% of the households with toilets have at least one person who regularly defecates in the open. Photo: Mint

Focus on usage, not construction

4 min read . 04 Jul 2014

In one of his earliest speeches as prime minister, Manmohan Singh promised the country a reformed government. But rather than deliver on this promise, his government simply went on to draft new laws. Photo: Bloomberg

Rights and state capability

4 min read . 24 Mar 2014

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