A working group on agriculture constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has suggested that the government provide farm loans to farmers at four per cent interest rate, raise the minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce to 50 per cent higher than the actual cost of cultivation and expand diesel subsidy scheme across the country.The Working Group on Agriculture Production headed by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda submitted its...

Over 200 families in this district of Madhya Pradesh continue to bear the brunt of caste discrimination.Vidisha, a thriving trade centre of ancient India, finds glorious mention variously for Emperor Ashoka's governorship, for featuring in Pali scriptures and Kalidasa's romantic epic Meghdoot, as a premier tourist destination in glossy brochures of Madhya Pradesh Tourism and as the parliamentary constituency of Sushma Swaraj, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok...

The rally members will highlight farmers' insecuritiesKisan Swaraj Yatra (rally for farmers' sovereignty), a conglomeration of farmers' organisations, consumers and civil society groups, is to make a presentation on the agriculture crisis to the National Advisory Council (NAC). They seek a Farmers' Income Commission and a social security legislation for farmers.Representatives of the Yatra, who met NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi here on Saturday to highlight the income insecurity of farmers,...

Kisan Swaraj Yatra (rally for farmers' sovereignty), a conglomeration of farmers' organisations, consumers and civil society groups, is to make a presentation on the agriculture crisis to the National Advisory Council (NAC). They are seeking a Farmers' Income Commission and social security legislation for farmers.Representatives of the Yatra, who met NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi here on Saturday to highlight the income insecurity of farmers, will be invited to make a...

Recently an interesting article appeared in The New York Times on how after the completion of a social audit at Nagarkurnool in Andhra Pradesh, villagers punished a local official for swindling funds allocated to the central government's flagship project, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. The irate villagers tied the official's hands and paraded him around the neighbouring villages. This is not a one-off incident; similar accounts have...