Category Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies

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Strengthening India’s Traditional Industries through SFURTI: The Progress, Challenges and Way Forward

India’s traditional industries have often been viewed not only as a form of economic activity but also as a symbol of craftsmanship and cultural heritage, providing millions of artisans with livelihoods and financial support across rural and urban areas. However, the rapid rise of modern industrialization, evolving consumer preferences, and scattered production systems have diluted the competitive value of these sectors. To address structural issues, the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) introduced the Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) as a cluster development program, which aims to strengthen traditional industries and create livelihood opportunities for artisans and people working in the informal sector. 

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Sectoral Priorities in the West Bengal Budget 2026–27: A Focus on Welfare and Infrastructure

On June 22, 2026, West Bengal's newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, presented its first full-year budget for 2026–27, ending over a decade of Trinamool Congress (TMC) rule in the state. Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta's budget speech had two competing jobs to do: hold on to the welfare architecture built by the outgoing TMC government, which remains politically indispensable in Bengal, while signalling a new emphasis on industrial revival, infrastructure expansion and fiscal discipline (The Daily Pioneer, 2026).

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West Bengal Student Credit Card Scheme (2021): An Evaluation of Its Role in Expanding Access to Higher Education

Access to higher education in India has long been constrained less by aspiration than by affordability. West Bengal, despite a relatively strong base in school-level enrolment, has historically trailed the national average in higher education participation. It was against this backdrop that the state government launched the West Bengal Student Credit Card (WBSCC) Scheme on 30 June 2021, under a Gazette Notification issued by the Higher Education Department, positioning it as a flagship intervention to remove the financial barrier standing between capable students and tertiary education. 

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Mission Basundhara 3.0 (2021–2026): Assam’s Push for Land Rights and Digital Governance

The Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 is a colonial regulation which existed in a land and population very different from the current state of Assam. This system persisted for over 100 years, resulting in a large number of people without any formal rights to the land that they had long cultivated, even when ownership had been passed down through generations, including cultivators, workers in the tea-garden, tribal families and families displaced by floods. A combination of successive erosion of the riverbed of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries and periodic flooding, coupled by the inadequate rate of cadastral survey, added to the problem and large numbers of Assam's rural population were deprived of legal status in the land, whether Khas (government) or Ceiling Surplus (cadastral surplus) land.A government-appointed committee headed by former Chief Election Commissioner H.S. Brahma, tasked with examining land rights of indigenous people in Assam, found in its 2018 report that close to 90% of the state's native population lacked formal land ownership documents, and that approximately 8 lakh indigenous families were entirely landless. 

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Conservation and Livelihoods: The Untold Story of India’s Buffer Zone Communities

India is celebrated worldwide for its remarkable conservation achievements. From the recovery of tiger populations to the expansion of protected areas, the country has demonstrated a strong commitment to preserving its rich biodiversity.

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