-Hindustan Times Herein lies the crisis of farmer politicians. They have neither aspirations nor the power of coercion working for them. Rural distress dominated discussions around the political-economy in 2017, and will likely continue to do so in 2018, much to the consternation of political incumbents. Those in opposition will be looking forward to harvesting this anger for their own benefit. One question is worth asking though. Where is the farmer-politician in...
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Farm distress and electoral outcomes -EA Ramaswamy
-The Hindu Business Line Gujarat result shows politicians and governments would pay attention to farmer woes only when they are hit where it hurts Agriculture is in the eye of the storm, and we must thank Gujarat elections for this turn of events. Agrarian distress is gaining eyeballs like never before. Farmers have tried all kinds of methods in the past, but to no avail. They committed suicide, but it didn’t matter....
More »UP is Shifting the Burden of Inefficient Power Companies Onto its Most Disenfranchised Citizens -Kabir Agarwal
-TheWire.in While the hike in power prices will increase rural distress, many farmers believe the move is particularly cruel because the quality of rural power supply hasn’t improved. Garhmukteshwar (Uttar Pradesh): Voting in the civic polls of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-governed Uttar Pradesh (UP) concluded on November 29. A day later, a huge power tariff hike of up to 150% for rural consumers was announced in the state. While the tariff hike,...
More »Ramesh Chand, NITI Aayog member and agricultural economist, interviewed by Sayantan Bera (Livemint.com)
-Livemint.com Farm economist and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand on the urgency of agricultural market reforms to meet the target of doubling farm incomes by 2022 New Delhi: Apart from staging protests in Delhi, farmers must make themselves heard in state capitals as well to resolve issues outside the central government’s control, farm economist and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said. In an interview, he spoke of the urgency of agricultural market...
More »The permanent debt trap of Gujarat -Rutam Vora
-The Hindu Business Line Farmers have been borrowing from banks to repay lenders and reversing the cycle Ahmedabad: In the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a saying goes: “A farmer is always indebted. He is born in debt and dies with a debt. What matters is how he manages this debt in his life.” There is a skew in Gujarat’s water resource distribution. Saurashtra covers 31 per cent of the State’s landmass but gets...
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