Economy

Getting up early in the morning and picking up the Aavin milk packets delivered to our doorsteps or queuing up at milk booths are vignettes from everyday life that most long-time residents of Chennai have grown up with. But of late, the exercise of getting a regular supply of milk from the State-owned milk co-operative is riddled with obstacles. Many residents have been facing problems in renewing their monthly milk card subscriptions online.  People who are well-versed in using smartphones and other digital devices may not have any major issues in renewing their cards online. But it is not the…

Chief Minister Siddaramiah announced his second budget during his current tenure as head of the government. With an overall budget outlay of Rs 3.71 lakh crore, the budget has been a promising one on several fronts. The five guarantees: Gruha Jyoti, Gruha Lakshmi, Anna Bhagya, Shakti and Yuvanidhi, which were announced in the election manifesto of 2023 and are being implemented over the past one year, received a budget allocation of Rs. 52,000 crores. Focus on the five guarantee schemes The chief minister justified the additional allocation and spending on the five guarantees, citing inflation and increasing income disparity in…

The Karnataka budget for FY 2024-25 was recently released on February 16th. To better understand the nuances of the state budget, this expert analysis breaks down the various components for citizens to assess the fiscal health of the state. It also looks at corresponding figures for the financial year 2021-22 to explain what such an assessment reveals about the state's finances. The annual budget of the Government of India is an eagerly awaited event, almost at par with a cricket match. The eagerness and anticipation associated with the budget mainly stems from concerns regarding: Changes in tax rates Impact on the…

In December 2023, many parts of Chennai received record-breaking rains for two days. Though the event of cyclone occurrence was the same throughout the city, the capacity to recover from the aftermath was not the same for all. Experts say the reasons for this recovery variability could be attributed to infrastructure resilience such as sewage treatment capacity, water supply, water holding capacity of reservoirs and waterbodies encroachment. These physical parameters are intensified by the socio-economic status such as the livelihood, income levels, social status of people and assets across different parts of Chennai. Here, it is important to look at…

There is a flurry of activity in my house. Furniture is rearranged to make space. Glasses of chilled nimbu pani are kept ready, and everyone waits for the familiar brown truck to come to the gate of the building. Things move quickly with its arrival. Men jump out of it and carry huge, blue plastic tubs filled with goods ranging from pulses to stationery to utensils, up to our house. The goods are checked against a list, the lemonade consumed, and the truck and these grocery Santa Clauses have moved on to their next destination. History of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat…

The Gruha Lakshmi scheme was supposed to be the crowning glory of the Congress government's five guarantees scheme. But for lakhs of women in the state, the scheme has not yet borne fruit. Under the policy, female heads of household in low-income families can receive Rs 2,000 per month to supplement their income. The scheme was formally launched in August last year, but several women had not yet received the benefits. Who are eligible? Women who are heads of their household and have a BPL (below poverty line), APL (above poverty line) or Antyodaya card issued by the Karnataka Department…

At 51 years, N C Bhatra, a migrant labourer in Chennai, finds the 20-hour train journey to his hometown in Puri, Odisha, arduous and costly. So much so that he has limited his trips home to see his wife and two children to just one or two times a year. Bhatra had migrated from Puri to Chennai in 1996. Reserving a ticket in the sleeper coach was much easier then, he says. But over the past five years, he has never been able to book tickets directly as they get sold out much faster.  “To get a ticket nowadays, I…

The desire of citizens for effective governance has enabled a stunning victory for the Congress, the current government in power. But are they in danger of losing the goodwill placed in them by the people?  For instance, the latest suggestion to allegedly ease the globally notorious traffic congestion in Bengaluru is to create double-decker flyovers along the proposed metro lines so that private vehicles go above the metro. If there is a metro along the route already, where is the need for a flyover above it? Is this not a reversal of the idea of elevated corridors, which was put on the back…

Think of BBMP and the first thing that pops up in your mind is roads and potholes. After an evening of rains you might think of stormwater drains, and when the garbage piles up of solid waste management (SWM). However, these are only some (of the main) parts of BBMP’s duties. How the money is split A look at their budget and how the money is spent on different headers gives an idea of the functions of BBMP. The main headers for budget allocations and their functions in brief are: HeaderDescription of FunctionCouncilPayment for corporators, ex-corporators, mayor, deputy mayor, etc.General…

Akbar Hussain, a 60-year-old who lives with his wife inside the Koyambedu bus stand, waits in line amidst tens of labourers in Koyambedu for his turn to be called for work. "If I come and stand in this line, there is a chance of me finding a job for the day and there is also a certainty that I will find food for me and my wife," he says. A native of Kallakuruchi, Akbar was working in a tea shop until COVID-19. As the tea shop was closed during the pandemic, Akbar and his wife found it difficult to make…