-The Hindustan Times Maharashtra: Vidarbha is an unforgiving place, parched, dry and restive. It is a place of waiting - for the rains, for dams, for a harvest that may never come. Lately, there's been a storm brewing in these 11 arid districts "All of Maharashtra is getting richer, but here in Vidarbha, everything is standing still," says Sachin Gawande, 30, a graduate and farmer from Risod town in Akola. "Ours remains...
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Bihar has little money to pay workers under MGNREGS -Alok Gupta
-Down to Earth Blames Centre for non-release of funds Bihar has very little money to pay people under the Central welfare scheme that guarantees 100 days of employment to the rural poor in a year. Central government's reluctance to release funds under its Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is said to be the main reason for the crisis. Nitish Mishra, Bihar's rural development minister, told Down To Earth that the...
More »A raw deal for migrants-Jayati Ghosh
-Frontline Significant part of economic migration is still the result of desperation rather than hard-headed economic calculation. This, in turn, affects the conditions under which workers migrate and their lives and work as well. PERHAPS the most poignant moment in the film Peepli Live-even though the movie is really more about the media than about the socio-economic realities of India-is at the very end, when the hapless protagonist, now a former farmer...
More »Where the poor become kidnap fodder-Rahi Gaikwad
-The Hindu Maoists in Jamui use this tactic in dealings with contractors Jamui (Bihar): After the trucks were loaded with sand and the invoices prepared, Raju Yadav hung his boots for the day. As darkness spread over the Kiyul river, he settled down for a chat with his co-workers at a nearby shelter. "Suddenly, a group of 20 armed Maoists dressed in fatigues swooped down on us and took us hostage. They tied...
More »Farmers must get coverage for lost crops-Devinder Sharma
-Tehelka If a house can be insured against natural disaster, why can't a crop field? There is nothing more gruesome for any farmer than to see before his own eyes his lush green standing crop flattened by the vagaries of nature. All his hopes and aspirations from a bountiful harvest are grounded in a matter of few minutes. Not only the crop, but his life too is flattened. As many as 24...
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