-News18.com Acclaimed journalist and Founder-Editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India, P Sainath attributes the existential crisis confronting India’s agrarian society to macro-economic policies set in motion 25 years ago. Talking to Anuradha SenGupta, Sainath makes a case for state intervention in agriculture and says the Modi government, with its shifting positions and policies like demonetisation has only aggravated the assault on agrarian livelihoods. Dismissing the buzz about imminent new initiatives...

-The Indian Express An income transfer policy combined with direct cash transfer is the best way to help the farmer Losses in the recent elections to the assemblies of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have given the BJP a jolt. The party had misjudged the gravity of the farm distress problem till then: The Union agriculture minister described farmer agitations as “political drama”. However, the party not only acknowledges the crisis...

-VillageSquare.in Women trained as poshan sakhis, or nutrition friends, advice and help rural women, particularly expectant and lactating mothers, to eat nutritious food and overcome anemia and underweight deliveries Koraput (Odisha): Swapnarani (21), an expectant mother, finishes her household work fast to attend the monthly maitri baithak at her village Bhutanagar in Badakeranga panchayat of Odisha’s Koraput district. Maitri baithak, or friendship meeting, provides space for women to discuss issues that concern...

-The Indian Express Assembly election results show that deceiving farmers comes with a price Frustration on the farms has reached an inflexion point. All of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promises could actually go against him. To gauge if the farmers’ anger can become a potent political force in 2019, it is important to understand the “farmer’s identity”. Identities rarely exist in neat silos, and that is true of the farmer as...

-The Hindu The Indian education system would be a good place to start with reforms, says the development economist Jean Drèze is possibly the world’s most famous Belgian-Indian. He has lived in India since 1979, and is an Indian citizen. As a development economist and activist, he has helped draft some startlingly pro-people legislations, such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, and the National Food Security Act, 2013....