-The Indian Express Again, going by NSSO data, while 11.9 per cent of an average Indian agricultural household’s monthly income comes from “farming of animals”, it is well over 24 per cent for Gujarat. Gujarat has a relatively low per agricultural household debt of Rs 38,100, as against the all-India average of Rs 47,000, according to the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) data for 2012-13. Also, 79.2 per cent of the state’s...

-The Hindu Held to account by the Supreme Court, the Central government is using opaque methods to change the key provisions of the employment guarantee scheme and make it targeted instead of universal. There is a pithy saying in Hindi that the elephant has two sets of teeth, one for show and the other to eat. This seems an apt description of the approach of the Narendra Modi government towards the implementation...

-The Indian Express Farm incomes may not revive despite good monsoon. There are new challenges for policymakers. India’s per capita calorie demand has been falling for at least the last 30 years. Most people do a double-take when they hear that. One can’t debate the fact much: National Sample Surveys every five to seven years have documented this. What we can debate are the reasons behind this: In their 2009 paper Angus...

-DNA Only 17% rural households take loans from financial institutions | Caste affiliation, gender play a part in getting credit As many as 31% of rural households in India are indebted and a significant number still depend on money-lenders, paying heavy interests, despite various government schemes and a network of rural banking. A parliamentary panel that probed the state of rural, agricultural banking found that a mere 17% rural household had taken...

-The Hindu Kerala today is not generating enough jobs to meet the expectations of educated Keralites entering the labour market. Changing this is vital and doable Kerala’s development model is in focus yet again as the newly elected Left Democratic Front government is in the process of evolving a vision for the State’s economy. On the one hand, Kerala has made spectacular achievements in land reforms, education, and health since its formation. Amartya...