-Livemint.com The committee’s suggestions on major reforms include an overhaul of the Union agriculture ministry New Delhi: In a detailed action plan for doubling farmers’ incomes, a top government panel has proposed major reforms to the existing administrative structure. This includes an overhaul of the Union agriculture ministry, setting up a three-tier planning and review mechanism through district, state and national level committees and an annual ease of doing agribusiness survey. The committee on...

-Livemint.com Union Budget 2018 may be able to offer sops for big farmers but it would not be able to deal with the structural challenges facing India’s rural economy The results of the Gujarat Elections, in which the opposition Congress outperformed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in rural constituencies, and the growing number of farmer agitations in the country have focused attention on rural India ahead of this year’s budget. But...

-The Times of India blog With little over than a year left for the 2019 general Elections, the Narendra Modi led NDA government has finally remembered the farmers of the country. Last week, finance minister Arun Jaitley said agriculture sector is the government’s top priority in this year’s budget. This has left many surprised considering BJP had promised to ensure a minimum of 50% profit over cost of production in their...

-TheWire.in The Gujarat election results are a wake-up call for the key political parties, as they gear up to draw strategies for the ensuing Elections to three states. The years 2018 and 2019 are going to be hectic with Elections scheduled for some state assemblies and to  parliament. The issues that confront the citizens are many, ranging from financial to livelihood, farm operations to health and education to rural development. The performance...

-Down to Earth Government reports say 2004-14 had the highest agriculture growth that has fast slipped back to near-zero growth despite normal monsoons and bumper yields The National Democratic Alliance government is scrambling to rescue the agriculture sector from a crisis never seen before. On January 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met over 100 economists in a first ever such interaction. Agriculture, rural economy and unemployment dominated the discussions. Modi’s promise of...