Category Thematic Areas

WhatsApp Image 2026 09 20 at 10.23.23 PM

I-MESA: Can social audits improve accountability in welfare delivery? 

Welfare schemes are designed to address social and economic vulnerabilities, but their effectiveness depends not only on the allocation of public resources but also on whether benefits and services reach the intended beneficiaries. The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE) works primarily for socially, educationally and economically marginalised groups, including Scheduled Castes (SCs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Senior Citizens, victims of substance abuse, Transgender Persons, persons engaged in begging, De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNTs), manual scavengers, sewer and septic tank workers, waste pickers, Economically Backward Classes (EBCs) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) (Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, 2026). 

image 30

Kerala’s Electric Vehicle Policy, 2019: Assessing the State’s Green Mobility Transition

Kerala was among the earliest Indian states to formally recognise electric mobility as a policy priority. The Kerala Electric Vehicle Policy was notified by the Transport Department on 10 March 2019, with a validity period of five years from the date of notification. The policy was framed around the vision of embracing electric mobility as a tool to promote shared and clean transportation, ensure environmental sustainability, improve energy efficiency, and build a domestic ecosystem for manufacturing EV components within the state.

image 29

Tamil Nadu’s Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thoga (2023): A State-Level Women’s Cash-Transfer Programme 

Tamil Nadu has a long tradition of universal welfare measures, from subsidised food and health care to free electricity and education support. Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai Thittam extends this legacy by placing a regular cash income directly in women’s hands. Announced as part of the DMK’s “seven guarantees” (Business Standard, 2024) before the 2021 Assembly elections and formally launched on 15 September 2023 (the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai), the scheme promises ₹1,000 per month to eligible women heads of households (Government of Tamil Nadu Official portal. https://kmut.tn.gov.in/; The Hindu, 2023). 

ninchen 2

21 September – International Day of Peace: Rethinking Peace in a Fractured World

Every year on 21 September, the world observes the International Day of Peace. At United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Japanese Peace Bell stands as a powerful symbol of peace and international unity. Cast in 1952 from coins donated by delegates from 60 nations and presented to the United Nations in 1954 by the United Nations Association of Japan, the bell bears the inscription, “Long live absolute world peace.” Its presence reminds the world to pause, reflect and renew its commitment to the enduring ideal of peace.

anjali

Punjab Department wise Schemes Update 2026

Punjab, with a geographical area of 50,362 sq km and a population of 2.77 crore as per Census 2011, is the sixteenth most populous state in India and one of its smallest by area, contributing about 1.5 percent of the national land mass while supporting roughly 2.3 percent of its population. The state has 23 districts and a population density of 551 persons per sq km, among the highest in the country. Punjab shares an international border with Pakistan and internal borders with Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan, and its capital, Chandigarh, is a shared Union Territory with Haryana. The economy remains predominantly agrarian, anchored in the paddy wheat cropping cycle that powered the Green Revolution, but this legacy has produced acute groundwater stress. The state's own 2025-26 assessment placed groundwater extraction at 152.22 percent of the annually extractable resource, and in a statement to the Rajya Sabha on 9 March 2026, Member of Parliament Satnam Singh Sandhu said that 19 of the state's 23 districts fall under the groundwater dark zone; the department-wise section below sets out the underlying block-level CGWB data in more detail.

Talk to Us