“Believe me, I am not making any of this up,” insists Asim Saha brother of Amiya Saha, who killed himself after consuming a bottle of pesticide a month ago after failing to find buyers for the paddy he had harvested, when he speaks of the events that occurred on the fateful night and the paddy that remains unsold at their home in Rajpur village in the West Bengal's Bardhaman district. The...

In the initial months of governance by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, attempts appear to have been made to begin subverting the positive results of the land reform programme of the Left Front. What is happening appears to be the inevitable outcome of political rivalry, the hegemonic rule of one party giving place to another, with the citadel of power changing its colour, making the “red” one “green”. But...

Here's the wonderful thing about the FDI-in-retail debate: never have struggling Indian farmers found so many champions. They've been crawling out of the woodwork. Foreign direct investment in retail may be on hold, but Hillary Clinton can stop worrying about Anand Sharma and Pranab Mukherjee. “How does (Commerce Minister) Sharma view India's current Foreign Direct Investment guidelines? Which sectors does he plan to open further? Why is he reluctant to open multi-brand...

Farmers are joining India Inc in mind, body and spirit. In a quiet revolution underway across the countryside, growers are setting up companies, replete with balance sheets, professional CEOs, board of directors, and income tax returns.  By pooling together the land and produce of their shareholders, these companies are signing lucrative deals with large retail chains, food companies and exporters keen to establish reliable supply chains. As many as 200 companies...

-The Economic Times The entire political opposition to allowing overseas investment in retail is focused on the assumed plight of traders and small merchants in India. How about consumers, who outnumber sellers by many multiples? And what about farmers, the bulk of India's population? The idea of organised retail is to get quality stuff to buyers at reasonable prices. To do that, retailers employ technology, storage and logistics to cut overhead...