-PTI The Union Cabinet is expected to soon approve a relief package for farmers grappling with falling prices of their crops and to tackle distress in the farm sector, according to sources. The likely relief package is seen as an attempt to assuage the farming community’s discontent ahead of the general elections. “...The Agriculture Ministry’s proposal on addressing income deficit syndrome of small and marginal farmers is on the agenda (at the Cabinet...

-The Hindu The farming work is being taken up by the Kudumbashree’s Pulimath community development society under the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana Thiruvananthapuram: A 13.5-acre ‘padasekharam’ in Plavodu ward of Pulimath grama panchayat that remained fallow for years is being transformed into a paddy field as part of the Kudumbashree District Mission’s fallow less-village activities. Taken up by the Kudumbashree’s Pulimath community development society under the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana, the organic paddy...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Eyeing economic gains through ecological work, non-profit organisation Pradan, along with Chhattisgarh government, has launched a watershed project in the state to enhance the income of 1 lakh small and marginal farmers, of whom over 40 per cent belong to Scheduled Tribes. A watershed is a chunk of a land that drains out at a common point. The watershed development approach takes a comprehensive account of the people, land,...

-Down to Earth Life of a Dongria Kondh tribal offers insights on Indian government’s reckless interventions into the lives of indigenous people When 30-year-old Lakshman Huika returned to his village Manda of Munikhol Panchayat in Muniguda block of Rayagada district in Odisha, he had already seen the life in big cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai. Manda lies deep inside Niyamgiri Hills and is accessible only by foot—at least three hours walk from the...

-Frontline.in Interview with Aruna Roy. ARUNA ROY is a well-known social and political activist. A former Indian Administrative Service officer, she resigned from the IAS in 1975 and has since worked with the most oppressed in society. Aruna Roy’s observation on government service is indicative of her future concerns: “Everyone calls it an elite service; I always felt the discourse should be a bit better than what it was. I was shocked...