-The Hindu It is the Supreme Court and not Parliament that has found time to pay attention to serious issues of drought relief and mitigation for hundreds of millions of Indians Irony. This one word captures our response to the ongoing nationwide drought in more ways than one. We have woken up to the reality of drought a full six months after the end of monsoon. After waking up, we focus on...

-The Times of India Hyderabad: Acute shortage of fodder triggered by prolonged heat wave across Telangana is driving thousands of farmers to sell off their cattle. The Telangana Goshala Federation, which works for the rescue and protection of cattle in the state through its network of 120 'goshalas' spread over all the 10 districts, including 41 in Hyderabad, said 2.15 lakh cattle were sold away by farmers in the last one month...

-The Guardian / Agence France-Presse Government says 330 million people are suffering from water shortages after monsoons fail As young boys plunge into a murky dam to escape the blistering afternoon sun, armed guards stand vigil at one of the few remaining water bodies in a state hit hard by India’s crippling drought. Desperate farmers from a neighbouring state regularly attempt to steal water from the Barighat dam, forcing authorities in central Madhya...

-Business Standard Green revolution pioneer now marked by rising rural despair, with high costs and low incomes pushing a mass of small cultivators into a debt trap Chandigarh: Fifty eight and counting…the number of farmers' suicides in Punjab in the past three months due to agrarian distress is alarming. Maharashtra, Punjab and Telangana top this grim list, the Union government informed Parliament last week. Rainfed states are in a crisis due to two...

-The Tribune While there are have been debates about the plight of farmers, hardly have we ever heard or read anything about the condition of agricultural labourers. They are the victims of economic downturn in the rural sector. THE economy of Punjab today, embroiled in various economic issues, is showing signs of crisis in the agrarian sector. We often hear and read about the woes of the farmers who are committing suicides,...