-The Hindu Crop insurance has always been a knotty issue with the two previous ones, National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NIAS) of 1999 and the Modified NAIS of 2010 failing to address the concerns. Hyderabad: Agriculture scientists, NGOs and farmer leaders have picked holes in the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) touted as the much-awaited ‘suraksha kavach’ (shield) and panacea for all crop insurance related ills. Crop insurance has always been...

-The Hindu Maternity entitlements are an important policy tool for encouraging better maternal health. This is why we need to do away with conditionality in cash transfer schemes Since the National Food Security Act (NFSA) was passed in 2013, policy circles have been buzzing with talk of reforms in the public distribution system (PDS). Less well appreciated is the NFSA’s potential to call attention to, and help address, poor maternal nutrition — an aspect...

-Livemint.com It’s time to look at the deleterious environmental impact of subsidies so as to attain correct pricing of resources A few days before Delhi’s odd-even rule—a road rationing scheme in which odd- and even-numbered cars were allowed to ply on roads on alternate days—was to be implemented, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia appeared on a television channel to answer questions on the rule. During the show, Sisodia admitted that the...

-DNA Widespread damage and loss of the Kharif crop in 2015 due to drought served to highlight the insecurity of the Indian farmers in the face of various challenges beyond their control: drought, hailstorms, unseasonal rains, cyclones, wild animals, epidemics and seed or technological failures, among others. Farm rights movements across the country have rubbished the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) calling it “a dressed up version of existing crop insurance...

-PTI "The government, going by the price it is paying for international crude oil, should be selling petrol at Rs. 19.40 per litre instead of Rs. 59.03 per litre." Congress on Friday reacted sharply to the government’s handling of petrol and diesel prices accusing it of “giving a penny and extracting a pound” and attacked the Prime Minister for “playing a cruel and diabolic game with the people of the country.” “The government,...