-Business Standard Farmers still struggling for access to govt schemes The 70th report on the "Situation of Agricultural Households in India", released by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) on Saturday, reveals that much is wrong with Indian farmers' economic status, despite several programmes being run by the government to raise their incomes. Over half of all farm households are heavily indebted; 26 per cent of them owe money to moneylenders who...

-Down to Earth Households in southern states are most indebted; 40 per cent agricultural-households take loan from informal sources like money lenders The latest survey report of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) further confirms India's worsening agrarian crisis. More than half of the agriculture households are in debt, and the worst affected states are southern states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, says the 70th round of NSSO survey. The...

-DNA Concerned about the increasing numbers of farmer suicides in Maharashtra's drought-hit areas, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from the centre and state on a PIL seeking compensation of Rs 25,000 per hectare to the farmers whose crops have failed. The bench headed by chief justice of India H L Dattu sought their response on the PIL filed by Rakesh Uttamchandra Upadhyay, a lawyer, highlighting the plight of the...

-Frontline The Left and other national parties protest against the NDA government's attempts to dilute the MGNREGS by limiting its budget and reducing its reach. IN a rare show of solidarity, representatives of several political parties took issue with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on its controversial proposal to restructure the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The opposition, which was initially confined to the...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: A spell of rains that fell across north, northwest and central India since Friday is expected to boost planting of wheat, chick pea, mustard and oilseeds. The cool temperature, though has set in late, is beneficial for the standing wheat crop, but potato and other vegetable crops could suffer from cold and frost conditions. According to data from the agriculture ministry, total area covered under rabi...