45 km south of Nagapattinam, the 26 December tsunamis washed away thousands of tonnes of stock salt at the Vedaraniam salt pans, filled them with debris and black silt. With government relief coverage withdrawn and the start of the season missed, manufacturers are in despair. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

Large water management projects are often announced with much fanfare, but as an audit of Gujarat's implementation shows, they're more likely to steer money towards other ends, and leave the taxpayers holding the bill for the benefits that have been diverted elsewhere. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports.

Despite notoriously variable and low earnings, close to 30% of the male population in Bilaspur's Chingrajpara slum are cycle-rickshaw pullers. Third in the SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood cuts across boundaries to chronicle the forces impinging on the pullers' livelihoods.

The first few weeks of the Value Added Tax have been shaky, with traders and some states threatening to bring down the whole system. Economic pundits too are angry at the diluted focus of India's version of the VAT. But the method has merit, and must be persisted with, notes Dinkar Ayilavarapu.

In Bilaspur's Saturday vegetable market, loaders complain of interminable waits each day to receive payments as low as Rs 5 from traders and vendors. In this fourth article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that a plethora of labour laws are being flouted, with Chhatisgarh's minimum wages schedule not helping.

Allocations in the annual budget are the real indicators of the government's priorities. It is by studying these that we can really judge how committed the administration is to the goals proclaimed publicly. Jacob John examines Budget 2005 and finds a yawning gap between promises made and the money approved to achieve them.

Although the government has spent large sums of money tackling problems, most social and economic indicators in the country are far short of the goals. Jaydeep Biswas and Debashish Sircar say we need better interim assessments of how money is spent, and social infrastructure to complement physical nation-building.

Can the small-time retail shop's employee or the truck operator's handyman claim more job protection than his wage labour counterpart? In this sixth article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that the labour law framework is no more a friend of the small establishment's employee than it is of the casual labourer.

Who is buying the new homes that are mushrooming in every city? What income group does this class belong to, and how does their affluent consumption compare to the national average, or to home-buyers elsewhere in the world. Darryl D'Monte finds some of the answers at a session with a human geographer.

At Cochin's Special Economic Zone, independence is a forgotten ideal. Here, as in other SEZs, the government has long treated native soil as territorial possessions of foreign nations, exempt from taxes, rules and safeguards that apply elsewhere. The only losers are the workers. P N Venugopal reports that now this charade is being expanded.

The vendors and hawkers of the Chingrajpara slum in Bilaspur are the lynchpin of the slum’s homespun economy. In this seventh article in our SLUM DIARIES series, Ashima Sood notes that operating on small capital outlays, these petty retailers offer a humbling portrait of entrepreneurship in action.

Even though caste barriers are far less visible in the Chingrajpara slum than in the villages its residents came from, how far one goes is still a function of where in the hierarchy one starts. Yet for many migrants, arrival in this Bilaspur, Chhatisgarh slum is the first rung on the ladder of upward mobility. Ashima Sood concludes SLUM DIARIES.

Financial audits of public undertakings can be conducted as in other firms, but how about audits of their administration? Himanshu Upadhyaya observes that the government's move to limit the CAG's mandate confuses financial scrutiny with oversight of governance issues, and the public auditor's role in the latter function is still vital.

Found abundantly along the coasts of the country, seaweeds offer the potential to help meet nutrition and food security needs, and also hold other advantages in medicine and farming. But technology, labour and quality issues impede the realisation of this potential. Prayukth K V reports.

The Kerala government gives the entertainment industry a huge tax break, by reducing dues from the operations of amusement parks. With no political party interested in opposing the drain on the treasury, taxpayers will be left to foot the bill for this largesse, note M Suchitra and P N Venugopal.

Today there is much more space for the idea that we can succeed in the market-place as social and moral beings not merely as slaves to some supply and demand curves, says researcher Rajni Bakshi, author of Bapu Kuti. She spoke on socially responsible investing at the National Stock Exchange, Mumbai, on the NSE Annual Day, October 21st, 2005.

Does the World Bank advocate development, or is it simply a money-lender pushing its loan packages? For too long, the distinction has been blurred, allowing the Bank to make self-serving recommendations. Sudhirendar Sharma notes the latest instance of this as the Bank pushes into water sector reforms in India.

There is now mounting hope that micro finance can be a large scale poverty alleviation tool. Banks too are shedding their old reluctance to lend to the poor, and are looking to tap the expertise of micro credit groups to create a new market. Ramesh Menon reports on the status quo and the challenges ahead.

Can we be a 'rich' people without doing any of the things that 'rich' countries now do, without the foundations on which they built their progress? That's an important question - because if the answer is no, then our current path to prosperity is in vain, and won't forestall another few decades of poverty and all-round deprivation. The India Together editorial.

A traditional rural residence is almost always based on adaptations to the local environment, and is often built with the labour of the villagers themselves without the need for external mechanised inputs. Surekha Sule reports on the Rural Building Centre, a NIRD initiative showcasing several such homes.

The establishment's appetite for large dams diminished marginally in the late nineties, but encouraged by the World Bank's low-key decision to restart funding, Indian governments are ready to start building again. But are large dams worth the expenditure? Tarun Jain and Ashima Sood report on the findings of a new research paper.

Even if activists and trade unions in India succeed in pushing up wage scales in the garment industry, manufacturers are likely to point out that with higher labour costs and hence billing, the high profit global retail buyers would shift their business to cheaper nations like Bangladesh or Indonesia. Is there a way out? Anuja Mirchandaney finds out more.

While some of the handloom sector's troubles come from the relentless march of mechanisation, modernisation and sophistication, there's more to the troubled weavers' plight, says Narasimha Reddy.

Minimum wage regulations continue to defy the very meaning of what the wage is for. The original premise - wages for people to live with minimum level of economic security, as well as dignity - is gone, its spirit lost in myriad variables that rise from states, sectors, bureaucracies and notifications. The India Together editorial.

The recall of the decommissioned French warship Clemenceau back to France in the wave of protests worldwide opens a great opportunity for India to clean its ship breaking yard in Alang, and improve conditions for its workers. A thorough assessment of facilities at Alang is much needed, notes Ramesh Menon.

With their long history of affiliation to political parties, unions have been unable to articulate the interests of workers independently. Also, a narrow understanding of labour has made them irrelevant to the majority of workers in the unorganised sector. A new formation proposes to tackle these failures. Aparna Pallavi reports.

In a few seconds, advertisers tell us stories from a fairy-tale world of the strongest, whitest, coolest and simply the best. And alas, like most fairy-tales, advertisements are often false. How can consumers be better informed? Varupi Jain talked with VOICE, a New Delhi-based consumer rights non-profit.

The introduction of centralised spinning mills in British times reduced the economic benefit that farmers and weavers could obtain. But now it is being asked, can decentralised cloth-making revive old livelihoods? Surekha Sule reports.

As the state clamps its annual ban on trawl boats along the Kerala coast, an old battle rages again, pitting traditional fishermen against trawl-boat owners who view the occupation quite differently. Each side feels that positive intervention by the state is required. M Suchitra and P N Venugopal report.

Kerala's fisheries sector is heading for deep crisis. The sector is already in troubled waters due to over exploitation of marine wealth, unbridled mechanisation and debt traps. Now the clouds of impending import of fish are further darkening the horizon. M Suchitra and P N Venugopal report.

Can transgenic cotton ever be a livelihood security measure for the majority of India's small-holder farmers? Keya Acharya is circumspect. She says that the Bt cotton story in India is one of confusion. Bt appears more to favour 'rich' farmers, who have access to water, better resources, and alternative support.

Crores of taxpayer rupees are spent by government institutes each year on fisheries technology and research. How much does this impact the lives of the average fish hawkers who vend on foot? Is there any impact at all? M Suchitra visited one Kerala hawker, at a coastal village near Kochi.

After three years after a loan disbursal to the Jindal Thermal Power Company Ltd. (Jindal) for a power project in Karnataka, the public-sector Power Finance Corporation has drawn flak from the Comptroller and Auditor General for having offered undue benefits to Jindal and causing a loss of Rs.13.48 crores to itself. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs deeper.

Vocational training could play a key role in bridging the gap that keeps millions of workers in the unorganised economy away from a better future. The needs of informal sector workers are complex, and mere training for income-generation is seen to be insufficient, writes Varupi Jain.

A majority of poor and low-income workers, especially women, are not aware of how to secure their own income using basic skills. Often, they are clueless about using the skills they have tacitly acquired. Varupi Jain on the starting point for development efforts that aim to help them tap their own potential.

India has only 5,100 Industrial Training Institutes and 1,745 polytechnics compared to 5,00,000 similar institutes in China. The USA boasts of 1500 trade training programmes compared to India's 171. A national conference in Delhi this February recommended measures to bridge the yawning gap between growth and jobs, reports Varupi Jain.

The economy in the North East is still largely based on subsistence-oriented farming. There is plenty of frustration arising out of inability to meet modern aspirations. What are the options for people to engage in productive work and earn more money? Surekha Sule has more.

Moments after a customer approaches this cart, the vendor pours tender coconut juice into a funnel-like part. Chilled juice comes out of a stainless steel tap below, filling a 250 ml glass, for Rs.10. Shree Padre reports about Fruit Hut Beverages, a Hyderabad-based firm that has launched the Coco Fresco brand.

A number of implicit and explicit constraints influence the extent to which carts and kiosks work as avenues of creative entrepreneurship. Varupi Jain compares the Indian scenario with that in the US, and notes cultural and social realities that shape the Indian experience.

A new report from TERI, the first of its kind for India, argues that compliance with environmental, social and governance criteria would better differentiate Indian stocks in comparison to issuers from other emerging markets for high quality investors. Rajni Bakshi has more on why India must care.

The origins of today's law for land acquisition for SEZs act can be traced to 1824, when the British colonial power felt the need to codify the undisguised forcible seizure of land. While colonial rule has long gone, the unjust application of the principle of eminent domain remains, writes Kannan Kasturi.

A persistent push to develop large-scale rubber plantations as a livelihood alternative to slash-and-burn cultivation by tribals has resulted in a major economic upswing in Tripura. With market prices for rubber well above sustenance levels, the future looks bright too. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

Against the wishes of the local people, and even the State government, a salt factory is proposed to be established on land that has been used freely by 20,000 villagers for decades. In the face of shifting politics, the residents are determined that they will protect their livelihoods. Aparna Pallavi reports.

The Indian economy is creating millions of varied job opportunities. Despite this, scores of educated youth are not readily employable and face a grim future. Companies are struggling to find and retain talent. Ramesh Menon on the challenges.

A new policy framework for hydro-electric power seems to have given confidence to private corporations to enter the sector, with a large number of mega projects lined up. But the same policies raise critical questions in relation to equity and access, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

As the heaps of pineappples grow bigger, prices will go down drastically from Rs.5 to Rs.2 and finally to 50 paise per pineapple, says Priyalal Sharma, a Tripura grower, who has also started rubber plantation in some portion of his land. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

New Delhi recently allocated three blocks of coal in Orissa for projects that will produce liquid fuel from coal, in an attempt to increase oil supply. The decision appears to have overlooked a number of critical considerations, say Ananth Chikkatur and Sunita Dubey.

India has made cotton fabrics for 20 centuries, and its scale in India was unimaginable. But modern market structures have pushed millions to the edge, and a few intense efforts, such as those of Dastakar Andhra, are not enough to reverse this. Darryl D'Monte reports.

The many arguments offered in support of Public Private Partnerships don't stand up to close examination. The private sector is not more efficient than its public counterpart, nor is cheap money accessible to it as readily, write Shripad Dharmadhikary and Gaurav Dwivedi.

The lack of economic activity in most SEZs leads to the suspicion that many were incapable of attracting economic production units in the first place. The rush to 'denotify' them only reinforces this, writes Kannan Kasturi.