-Business Standard IWMI supported them financially for purchase, installation of pumps and solar panels by funding Rs 40 lakh so far Ahmedabad: With the help of Colombo-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI), six Gujarat farmers have formed world’s first solar power cooperative society to sell surplus power generated from solar water pumps installed at their farms. After conducting a successful pilot project of connecting farmer with the grid at Anand district of Gujarat,...

It seems that not only civil society activists, but even the poor and marginalized themselves are not happy with the Centre’s social welfare policies. Following the recent protest by 150 eminent persons regarding failure of the NDA Government to take-up urgent measures for employment generation and ensuring food, nutrition & drinking water security in the backdrop of severe drought in roughly 1/3rd of Indian districts (please click here to access),...

-Outlook Though the Modi government claims 33 states and Union Territories are implementing NFSA,​ the facts on the ground ​are very different. Millions wait for proper identification and delivery of the promised highly subsidized foodgrains even as hunger stares at some of the extremely poor households Three years after the National Food Security Act (NFSA) was enacted it appears crores of poor who were to be provided food grains to keep hunger and...

-The Hindu Business Line There’s room for more awareness and organisation, but the number of people benefiting from fair price shops is growing Poor people in India depend heavily on the public distribution system. A recent survey by the National Council of Applied Economic Research found that more than 90 per cent ration card-holders in Below Poverty Line (BPL) / Priority Households (PHH) and the Antyodaya Anna Yojna category purchase foodgrain at...

-The Tribune While there are have been debates about the plight of farmers, hardly have we ever heard or read anything about the condition of agricultural labourers. They are the victims of economic downturn in the rural sector. THE economy of Punjab today, embroiled in various economic issues, is showing signs of crisis in the agrarian sector. We often hear and read about the woes of the farmers who are committing suicides,...